Bath Rugby today announced that Sir James Dyson has acquired a 50 percent ownership stake in the group comprising Bath Rugby, Arena 1865, the club’s stadium development company, and the Farleigh training facilities.
Sir James Dyson will commit substantial new capital to the group to reduce existing debt and support the development of the club’s new stadium.
The transaction establishes a long term 50:50 partnership between Sir James Dyson and Bruce Craig, the latter of whom who will continue to run Bath Rugby and lead the club’s next phase of development on and off the field.
Since acquiring the club in 2009, Craig has guided Bath Rugby through the pandemic, its financial aftermath and the wider volatility of the professional game while rebuilding the club into one of rugby’s elite sides. The recent historic treble, ending a 29 year wait for a league title, marked the culmination of that work.
Sir James Dyson, who has supported Bath Rugby for more than forty five years, said the partnership was deeply personal.
“This is the club I have supported for most of my life. My children and my grandchildren do so too. I stood on the terraces and have watched the high moments as well as the difficult years.
Bruce deserves enormous respect for rebuilding the club to be the force that it is today and I am not here to change that. I am here to support, just as I have for the past forty five years but now with greater commitment and responsibility.
My family and I are proud to stand alongside Bruce as equal partners to further strengthen the foundations of Bath Rugby, realise the new stadium and help ensure its future. Bath Rugby matters deeply to this city and its wonderful supporters who are the most dedicated in the land.”
Bruce Craig said the partnership represented continuity and alignment.
“This has never been a short term project. From the beginning the aim has been to build something resilient, competitive and worthy of the club’s history.
James understands Bath Rugby first and foremost as a supporter and a friend. His family has stood behind the club for decades and it always felt inevitable that our paths would align in this way.
I will continue to run Bath Rugby and together we will strengthen its foundations, realise the new stadium and build the club for generations to come.”
Both owners are proud that Bath Rugby’s team is led by Johann van Graan, with one of the most exciting and talented groups of players in the game captained by Ben Spencer, and with Tarquin McDonald as Chief Executive.
About Dyson
James Dyson has grown his family and business from Bath and the surrounding area. All have been long standing supporters of Bath Rugby, the family as loyal fans and the business as the club’s main sponsor.
Dyson began in a coach house in Bathford and has since grown to be a global technology company operating in 85 markets worldwide. Dyson remains 100 percent family owned and is focused on researching, developing and manufacturing products including motors, vision systems, robots, vacuum cleaners, hair care products, fans, air purifiers and lights.
The Dyson campus in Malmesbury is a research and development hub for the company and home to the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology. The pioneering university founded in 2017 blends academic rigour with real world experience, with undergraduates working on live projects within Dyson alongside their studies. Dyson’s undergraduate engineers earn a salary, pay no tuition fees and work alongside world experts in their field creating real products from day one.
James Dyson has also built the United Kingdom’s biggest farming business, Dyson Farming, which employs 270 people and is focused on high tech sustainable food production for British consumers. It is now a top five food producer in the United Kingdom growing almost 100000 tonnes of food a year.
James and Deirdre Dyson have contributed more than £155 million to good causes, mostly via the James Dyson Foundation. Locally he is proud to support the Royal United Hospitals in Bath, where the Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care and the Dyson Cancer Centre provide treatment to hundreds of thousands of patients in the South West of England.
The James Dyson Foundation has pledged £6 million to build a new STEAM centre at Malmesbury Primary School, where art will be intertwined with science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a new curriculum.