A RECORD 180,000 people took part in events organised by Nova International last year, and the company is hoping to boost its popularity beyond the UK in future.
Newcastle firm Nova was established in 1988 by Olympian Brendan Foster, and runs events across the country including the North East’s own Great North Run.
Its ability to attract both participants and sponsors enabled its annual turnover to jump 5% in 2010, and it has recently opened additional offices in London and Manchester.
Managing director Dave Newton said the company was benefiting from the growing market in mass participation events, but was also looking to increase its profile abroad.
He said: “The challenge is how we can develop internationally. One way to do it would be to look at how we can franchise the brand, with people delivering events and us promoting them.
“We’d love to be a centre of excellence here in the North East, with people coming here to find out more about how a mass participation event can be put together.”
Nova’s turnover increased from £13.6m to £14.3m in 2010. It organises the world’s biggest running programme under the Great Run brand, with events in places such as Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield.
Its Great Swims are also popular, with five events including dates in London Docklands, Salford Quays and Ipswich. Elite events include the Great City Games Manchester, the Great North City Games and the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country, while it is also about to announce details of its first cycling event on closed roads, which will take place this year in a major city.
“Mass participation events are definitely a growing marketplace and that’s been driven by people wanting to get fit as well as their charity fundraising,” said Newton.
Nova also runs an independent sports production company called filmNova, which provides footage of its own events and created a promotional video which contributed to the success of London’s bid for the World Athletics Championships in 2017. Newton said: “We’ve always tried to make our events a bit different, as the market certainly provides a lot of opportunities for people to get involved.
“Our approach is to raise the profile of the events and make them more famous and we do that in part through television. It gives the people who run in our events a chance to be on the telly.”
The company’s decision to open a London office has allowed it to build and maintain relationships with sponsors that are crucial to its business, as well as broadcasters such as the BBC. Bupa sponsors Great Run events while British Gas backs Great Swims. It has come to agreements with firms such as Powerade, Karrimor and Asics.
Newton said: “We still want the business to run in the North East, and will always keep our head office here.”
