Henri Lloyd has announced that Sir Ben Ainslie will serve as a Non-Executive Director on the board of the Henri Lloyd Group. In addition Ben will become Chief Technical Advisor on product development to support the company’s mission of creating the best performance sailing clothing in the world.

Ben said: “I am proud to have sailed in Henri Lloyd clothing for my entire professional career and a lot has changed over that time. However as everyone can see, the pace of change in the world of sailing is accelerating and with it the physical demands on sailors is higher than ever before. The performance requirements from our clothing has significantly transformed and will continue to do so.

“I see this as a great opportunity to be involved in a project that encourages a new way of thinking about sailing kit. In particular I’m excited about sharing some of the principles behind the way I approach sailing with the HL team and working with them to develop the next generation of performance gear.

“In addition to helping the company achieve its commercial aims, one of the things that attracted me to this new relationship was Henri Lloyd’s passion for sailing and wanting to give back to the sport and encourage future generations to participate.”

Chairman and controlling shareholder Hans Eckerström said; “We are extremely proud to have the most successful Olympic Sailor of all time and without doubt one of the most influential men in World Sailing on our team. Ben is a very modest guy off the water but there is so much to admire about his winning mentality, drive, focus on detail and his willingness to embrace new technologies – these are values that we share and want to encourage further within the new Henri Lloyd. We see the appointment of Ben who is currently leading the British challenge to bring the America’s Cup back to British waters as a really important step in achieving our business goals. It’s our belief that the market wants to see innovation and a different approach and we whole heartedly adopt this approach.

“At the same time, we believe that the coming together of Ben and Henri Lloyd will put us in a special position to launch practical initiatives to encourage new people to discover the joy of sailing. This is something that is close to our hearts and we feel is so important to the future of sailing.”

Henri Lloyd has announced a new initiative of DYO – Design Your Own, every team can look like a pro crew. For too long race crews have had to simply accept the standard designs and colours from the established brands, whereas pro-crews have had the luxury of being able to create distinctive and unique identities for themselves. Using Henri Lloyd’s wholly owned own European factory, teams can now create their own unique kit with low minimum production quantity, fast turnarounds and reasonable pricing.

To find out more about DYO visit www.henrilloyd.com/DYO

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