UK Cloud Computing Company iomart Hosting Recruits Scotland Footballers to Kick off New Campaign

GLASGOW, Scotland, March 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

iomart Hosting becomes natural choice for football kit as well as business hosting

UK cloud computing and managed hosting services provider iomart Hosting has recruited two Scotland footballers to launch its latest community campaign.

'Host Your Kit' is an initiative by the Scottish Digital IT Company of the Year to give away top quality football kits to youth teams in England, Scotland and Wales, who for various reasons either can't afford their own kit or desperately need a new one.  The company is giving away the latest adidas strip to 30 teams who send in the best video or email explaining why their side deserves a new kit. The adidas kits, which will consist of 14 outfield players' and one goalkeeper's strip, are being provided by Greaves Sports, the official retail partner of the Scottish Football Association.

Phil Worms, Director of Marketing for iomart Hosting, said: "I know that many of our customers and employees have sons and daughters who play football for their local teams and that getting new kits season after season is a real challenge for many of the parents involved. With 2012 being called the Year of Sport, this is the perfect opportunity for us to get involved with a campaign that combines our hosting expertise with the promotion of sport in the community. As a leading managed and cloud hosting company we've built a great reputation for the hosting of physical server kit and count many sporting organisations as clients, so now we're hoping to make our mark in the hosting of football kits!"

Scotland and Celtic star Charlie Mulgrew and Scotland and Glasgow City Ladies player Emma Fernon took part in a photo-shoot to promote the campaign.

Charlie, who has just been voted SPL Player of the Month, said: "I'm delighted to be supporting this great campaign by iomart Hosting. I remember as a young boy how much of a confidence boost it gave me when I ran out on the pitch wearing a proper kit.  Thanks to iomart Hosting's Host Your Kit campaign, teams across Britain will be able to kick off their next league campaign with that extra bit of pride."

Emma Fernon said: "I'm really proud to be supporting this great community campaign by iomart Hosting. It was a real struggle for clubs when I was young. Parents and coaches had to beg money from local businesses to buy kits so it's great that iomart Hosting is offering a helping hand to teams."  

The company is giving away the latest adidas strip to 30 teams who send in the best video or email explaining why their side deserves a new kit. The adidas kits, which will consist of 14 outfield players' and one goalkeeper's strip, are being provided by Greaves Sports, the official retail partner of the Scottish Football Association.

Angus MacSween, CEO of iomart Group plc, the parent company of iomart Hosting, said: "We're delighted to be launching this campaign. I hope everyone in the UK web hosting world who has children who play football gets involved with Host Your Kit."    

Sandy Greaves, Managing Director of Greaves Sports, said: "This is a fabulous initiative by iomart Hosting and one we're delighted to be involved in. Hopefully sharing the same kit brand as great teams like Spain, Argentina, Germany, will inspire these young teams to bigger and better things."

Host Your Kit is open to able-bodied and disabled boys' and girls' football teams who play in a recognised youth league in the Under11 (2001s) to Under 16s (1996s) age categories in England, Scotland or Wales.  

You can follow the Host Your Kit campaign on Twitter @hostyourkit or on the Host Your Kit Facebook page. Details of how to enter are on the campaign website http://www.hostyourkit.com

To find out more about iomart Hosting visit http://www.iomarthosting.com

Notes to editors    

About Host Your Kit

Host Your Kit is a campaign by iomart Hosting to giveaway free adidas football kits to 30 girls' and boys' teams in England, Scotland and Wales. iomart Hosting is passionate about all things healthy, active and hosting. Host Your Kit captures the sporting spirit on 2012. Full terms and conditions of Host Your Kit are available at http://www.hostyourkit.com

iomart Hosting (AIM:IOM) is one of the UK's leading providers of complex managed hosting and cloud computing services to the enterprise market. It owns and manages its own network infrastructure, including five UK data centres, offering a unique 100% uptime guarantee. Services include: Private and Hybrid Cloud, Colocation, Content Delivery Networks, IP Transit, Cloud Storage and Email.

Clients include: office2office, Misys, Cimex, BT plc, Stagecoach, Skyscanner, SoftCat, Learndirect, London School of Economics, Newsquest , Shine TV and STV.

News release issued on behalf of iomart Hosting by Jane Robertson, Head of PR for iomart Group plc. For more information please email jane.robertson@iomart.com   or call +44(0)141-931-6474 (dir), +44(0)141-931-6400 or +44(0)7827948993 (mob).