Warwickshire and Intercity extend winning partnership for another three years

Warwickshire County Cricket Club has extended its contract with tech firm Intercity, with the Birmingham-based company set to continue playing a key role in the club's digital transformation.

Intercity, which employs hundreds of people at its Holloway Head HQ, will continue to act as the club’s technology specialist for another three years.

The relationship spans managed IT, communications, cyber security and increasing AI adoption as the stadia looks to deliver the best performances on and off the pitch.  

Over the last three years, Warwickshire has become a live showcase environment, demonstrating how enterprise IT can underpin large-scale, high-footfall experiences.

Mike Osborne, executive director at Intercity, said: “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 have 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.”

Lucy Hayes, operations director at Warwickshire, 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.”

The partnership has stretched past the core technology offer, with Intercity benefitting hugely from raised brand profile throughout Warwickshire’s home, Edgbaston Stadium, and tapping into the their commercial network.

There was also a major first during the last three years when Warwickshire became the first county cricket club in England and Wales to adopt Ripple’s life-saving crisis intervention technology on both staff laptops and public Wi-Fi.

Intercity worked closely with the team to ensure this safeguarding tool was seamlessly deployed across its infrastructure, which discreetly intervenes when someone searches for self-harm or suicide-related content, instead guiding them towards vital mental health support.

The technology integrates as a browser extension and Wi-Fi-based solution, operates discreetly in the background without collecting personal data.