Hygiene brand Lifebuoy partners with England Cricket to support a safe return of the game

• Lifebuoy becomes Official Hygiene Partner of England Cricket, incorporating men’s, women’s, and disability teams at an elite level
• ECB and Lifebuoy to provide all recreational cricket clubs with a free ECB Hygiene Bundle
• The world’s number one hygiene soap¹ brand is also providing tens of thousands of cricket-playing children with hand sanitiser packs through involvement with All Stars Cricket & Dynamos Cricket programmes
• Hand sanitiser to be used by all England teams this summer

Unilever brand Lifebuoy, the world’s number one hygiene soap¹ brand, has today announced a multi-year partnership with England Cricket ahead of the start of the new season. This is in addition to the previously announced partnership with the ECB’s innovative new competition, The Hundred.

As part of the new partnership, Lifebuoy will become the ‘Official Hygiene Partner’ and ‘Official Community Cricket Hygiene Partner ’of England Cricket and ECB.

In partnership with ECB, all recreational cricket clubs across England and Wales will be able to apply to receive a free ‘ECB Hygiene Bundle’ pack as part of the drive to help cricket return safely.

The partnership includes branding at all England Home Internationals. Lifebuoy will provide product to all international England teams at matches and hotels. They will also support All Stars Cricket and Dynamos Cricket, first class counties and county cricket boards.

Russell James, Sales and Marketing Director, said: “We’re delighted to have partnered with Lifebuoy to support all forms of cricket, from elite through the grassroots of the game.

“The potential return of spectators will be a welcome sight for players and the public alike. We know that a lot of fans will be thinking about hygiene as an important consideration when returning to watch cricket this summer. We have worked closely with the Lifebuoy team to help make fans safe so they can follow England Cricket with confidence this summer.”

Chris Barron, Vice President, Beauty & Care, Unilever UK & Ireland, commented: “As the world’s number one hygiene soap brand, Lifebuoy has a clear role to play in helping us all to stay safe. We’re proud to be working with England Cricket to help the safe return of the nation’s summer sport, and as official Hygiene Partner of England Cricket we’ll be providing hygiene support to players and spectators alike at both elite and grass-roots level.”

In addition to providing All Stars Cricket and Dynamos registered children with hand sanitiser bottles via their clubs, Lifebuoy have created three further hygiene bundles of sanitiser products for clubs at a subsidised rate ahead of the coming season via Lifebuoy’s 'online portal'.

Nick Pryde, ECB Director of Participation said: “We’re really excited to have the support of Lifebuoy, helping recreational cricket return safely this summer. We’re going to see COVID-adapted match-play and training, and the subsidised bundles they are offering clubs, together with guidance and clarity through ongoing communication and guidance is invaluable. We know cricket’s role in the local community and look forward to celebrating this as we look forward to the summer.”

For further guidance on cricket’s return to play, please visit https://www.ecb.co.uk/covid-19.

Lifebuoy’s partnership with England Cricket further enhances their global involvement within the sport, with agreements in place with West Indies and Pakistan, who together with India, New Zealand & Sri Lanka, will play England’s Men’s team this summer.

For further information, please contact:

Lifebuoy: Tom Ainscough, +44 (0) 782 485 7549, Tom.Ainscough@csm.com

ECB: Ben Walker, +44 (0) 792 028 8720, Ben.Walker@ecb.co.uk

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 2.5 billion people every day. We have 149,000 employees and generated sales of €50.7 billion in 2020. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. We have around 400 brands found in homes all over the world – including iconic global brands like Dove, Lifebuoy, Knorr, Magnum, OMO and Surf; and other brands such as Love Beauty & Planet, Hourglass, Seventh Generation and The Vegetarian Butcher.

Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business model drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world’s first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap, more than 100 years ago, and it’s at the heart of how we run our company today.

The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while:

• -improving the health of the planet;
• -improving people's health, confidence and wellbeing; and
• -contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world.

While there is still more to do, we are proud to have been recognised in 2020 as a sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and - for the tenth-consecutive year - as the top ranked company in the 2020 GlobeScan/SustainAbility Sustainability Leaders survey.

For more information about Unilever and our brands, please visit www.unilever.com.

About Lifebuoy

Lifebuoy is the world’s number one hygiene soap¹, sold in nearly 60 countries. Through the Lifebuoy brand, we aim to make a difference by creating quality, affordable products and promoting healthy hygiene habits. Since 2010, we have reached over 1 billion people through our handwashing programmes.

The desire to be clean, active and healthy is intrinsic to everyone – irrespective of age or economic status. We understand this and Lifebuoy soap has championed the cause for better health through hygiene for more than a century.

An inspiring vision for more hygienic, healthier and ultimately more vital communities is the driving force behind the Lifebuoy brand. To realize this vision, we look to consistently innovate and provide accessible Lifebuoy products to a wide variety of consumers. The vision also commits the Lifebuoy brand team to visible action, through inspiring projects that motivate consumers to improve their hygiene behaviour.

Since the launch of the Lifebuoy brand in 1894, we have supported people in their quest for better personal hygiene. The classic red bar of soap and its distinctive medicated carbolic scent was synonymous with cleanliness throughout the twentieth century. Today, the brand is so much more. With its many soap variants and specially-designed body washes, These, along with the range of liquid hand washes and hand hygiene gel, ensure daily hygiene and freshness for the entire family.

About ECB

ECB is the national governing body for cricket in England and Wales. It is dedicated to supporting the game at every level, from our international teams, the First-Class Counties and domestic cricket through to disability cricket, grassroots clubs, schools and junior cricket and recreational programmes.

Last year ECB launched Inspiring Generations, a game-wide strategy to grow cricket in England and Wales from 2020-24. The five-year plan sees the whole game united behind a clear purpose: to connect communities and to inspire current and future generations through cricket.

¹Calculation based on Nielsen unit sales information for the total markets (approx. 40 countries). Latest 12 months available. Details available on request.