Intercity enters second innings with cricket club

A technology firm has padded up for another three years after extending a “match made in heaven” partnership with a championship-winning county cricket club.

Birmingham-based Intercity has renewed its contract with Warwickshire County Cricket Club, continuing a relationship focused on the IT transformation of Edgbaston Stadium.

The partnership covers managed IT, communications, cybersecurity and growing adoption of artificial intelligence as the venue looks to strengthen its technology infrastructure and visitor experience.

During the past three years, Edgbaston has also become a showcase for Intercity’s technology, demonstrating how enterprise IT can support large-scale venues and high-footfall events.

The relationship has extended beyond technology, with Intercity using its presence at Edgbaston to raise its profile and develop connections across Warwickshire’s commercial network and the wider Birmingham business community.

Lucy Hayes, operations director at Warwickshire, which last week clinched the County Championship pennant, said: “The partnership with Intercity has been a fantastic experience – our IT has never been more reliable, more secure and more able to support modern innovations in stadia experience that we are determined to lead on.

“Being a Birmingham-based business, they get the importance of our brand to the city and its wider regeneration plans. 

“This is reflected in the level of service we receive, with transparent communication at its heart and a responsive approach that means, on the rare occasion a problem arises, we have an engineer on site within minutes to solve it.

“Intercity also challenge us. 

“We’re not experts in IT and we want a partner who introduces us to new technology that can improve our operational performance, whilst delivering a world class customer experience for cricket fans. 

“How we embed AI into our stadium is a major priority for the next three years.”

Intercity, which employs hundreds of people at its Holloway Head headquarters, has also supported the introduction of new safeguarding technology at the stadium.

Warwickshire became the first county cricket club in England and Wales to adopt Ripple’s crisis intervention technology across staff laptops and public Wi-Fi.

The system discreetly directs people searching online for self-harm or suicide-related content towards mental health support without collecting personal data.

Mike Osborne, executive director at Intercity, added: “When we signed the deal with Warwickshire back in 2023, it marked our move into the sporting world, a move that has brought us new clients including Birmingham City, Bristol Bears and a couple of Premier League clubs we can’t name.

“From the start it was a match made in heaven with both organisations keen to harness the power of technology to transform one of the city’s real gems, improving its IT platform and looking at new innovations that deliver enhanced sporting performance and customer experience.

“As the relationship developed, Warwickshire has increasingly trusted us to manage and guide elements of its IT estate and investment, reflecting a shift from supplier to strategic partner. 

“This is something we want to build on over the next three years.”

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