Sponsorship

The firm has signed two sponsorship deals with two of the most exciting young athletes in the UK - Francesca Halsall and Shelly Woods - as they aim for Olympic glory.

Read about Francesca's European Championship glory

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Francesca scooped two silver medals before her 16th birthday.

Now, she is British Champion and British record holder at 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle.

Shelly Woods is one of Great Britain's best young talents in wheelchair athletics.Recently referred to as "the next Tanni Grey-Thompson", Shelly won the 2007 London Marathon and is British record holder in 800m, 1500m, 5000m and Marathon.

Both Francesca and Shelly are hoping to represent Great Britain in the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing - so our sponsorship comes at an ideal time.

Nurturing our own talent

The firm is one of the main sponsors of North West netball team, Northern Thunder. One of the squad members is Halliwells solicitor Beccy Douglass, who has been capped twice for the England netball squad. Beccy works in Manchester's Corporate Banking team and has played netball since she was at school.

She was a member of the England team playing South Africa and also New Zealand during the 2004-5 season, but unfortunately damaged her ankle and needed reconstructive surgery. That put her out of the game for 18 months but she's now on the way back to stardom by playing in the UK's Netball Superleague