Our purpose is to help inspiring individuals and independent businesses achieve their missions. Leasing solutions help, sure – but it’s the networking, relationship building and connecting with their purpose that makes it all worth it for us.
This brings us to Lewis Taylor, a client who uses Lease Loop across his five businesses, including Energy Angels, Halo Detailing, an investment firm and a garage. He also owns Rugby Borough Women’s Football Club (RBWFC), and when we learnt that we could sponsor a first team player, we jumped at the opportunity to say thank you to someone that has trusted us so much over the years.
Not only does this sponsorship align with our personal and professional values, but it has developed into bigger conversations. It’s even come full circle back to Apple, who have recently become a key technology supplier to the Women’s Super League…
Poppy Soper x Lease Loop
As well as giving back to Lewis, sponsoring RBWFC is about supporting an independent women’s football club. We (James and Danni, Lease Loop founders) have a daughter in the sport, so we understand the barriers to entry and progression that come with the territory. It was a natural decision.
Our next job was to choose which player to sponsor. I was a goalkeeper in my heyday and my son followed suit. So, the “goalkeepers’ union” kicked in and we chose the extremely talented Poppy Soper – first team RBWFC and Wales National Team goalkeeper.
As our relationship with the club developed, we gained a deeper understanding of the challenges they face. We soon had bigger conversations about how we can support them on their mission to progress and compete with the best.
Driving support behind the scenes
RBWFC are currently in the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division, aka the third tier of professional women’s football. But unlike some of the other clubs in their division and most in the leagues above, they don’t have the infrastructure and financial backing of giant parent clubs.
Building a sustainable business model, climbing the women’s football pyramid and staying there is no mean feat – as Max Turner, RBWFC CEO, knows all too well:
“It’s been a great privilege to help RBWFC move forward. The truth is that, while I’ve always been a football enthusiast (heavy on the enthusiasm, low on the skill), my role within the club focuses on developing the business model. It soon became apparent to me that the currency at Rugby Borough isn’t just in pounds and pence – it’s in knowing that we are doing something good, that I’m helping to give opportunities to athletes that are so deserving and have worked so hard.
“I’m genuinely proud that not only do we run a business that will have huge opportunities in the future, but that those opportunities will come around from having a genuinely moral standpoint – and providing great role models, social and sporting for girls like my daughter going forward.”
Hearing more about the club’s journey, we wanted to keep supporting them beyond our sponsorship of Poppy. So, we introduced Max to Sporting Khalsa – a club in the same division that we have a pre-existing connection with. They have shown Max and his team how they built stadium infrastructure using shipping containers. We have also attended networking meetings together held at Sporting Khalsa, which generate revenue for the club.
In addition, we have brought in more of our clients to the conversation who could offer support around educational programmes. Max is exploring ideas around this to create a revenue stream from RBWFC and we have connected him with fellow Lease Loop clients – iAM Compliant and 8billionideas – to help and hopefully generate connections that will lead to work between them all.
At Lease Loop, we’ve always set out to be so much more than just a credit broker. Working closely with our clients and referring them to each other to create new growth opportunities is one of the most enjoyable parts of our job!
What happened next was a full circle moment that we didn’t expect…
Building on Apple’s foray into UK women’s football
In October 2025, it was announced that Apple were to collaborate with the Women’s Super League (WSL) to provide “a comprehensive suite of products” to WSL and WSL 2 clubs. This included the latest MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and iPad Air, along with the new iPhone 17 Pro and AirPods Pro 3 – all of which can be used for high-level analysis on matchdays and in training.
We believe that those that would benefit most from such equipment are lower tier clubs. RBWFC are pushing hard for promotion into the WSL 2, and if they make it, all that aforementioned equipment will become theirs to harness. However, should they get relegated back down, they’ll abruptly lose access to it – potentially forcing them to alter their entire backroom processes while also fighting for re-promotion.
“One of the truly exciting things about our game in this country is the principle of promotion and relegation,” says Max. “Layer on top of this the women’s game, with its independent and, in our case, proudly quirky clubs, and it’s got entertainment written all over it! However, entertainment in sport also necessitates jeopardy, and it’s so important for sustainability that we think inventively about how we can hedge against this.
“James and the team at Lease Loop have been so helpful in this process. As one of the teams at the top of the division, we need to think like a big club and, when appropriate, behave like a big club. Getting promoted and staying there is about understanding how we can start to put in place those big-club systems, but in an accessible way.
“Much of our success in not only mixing in with the big kids in the playground, but beating them, has been about just that – so technology and performance enhancement is at the top of the list. Lease Loop have been able to provide us with the equipment in an affordable way, helping us prepare for the big time while also improving our performance management right now in this league. Honestly, their commitment as a company has been fantastic for Rugby Borough, and they’re a bunch of really good people to boot.”
RBWFC already leases Apple equipment from us, but we’ll be exploring how we can expand that support on two fronts. Firstly, on an equipment basis – bringing their staff up to speed with the tech that they would be granted in the WSL so that they can hit the ground running in the event of promotion and not feel the hit too harshly if they were relegated back down. And secondly, continuing to drive conversations and connections with those in and around our client base to drive progression behind the scenes.
Good luck RBWFC – we’re right behind you!
It’s harder for lower tier women’s clubs to break the glass ceiling into WSL 2. They need to be ready on a technological level, already leveraging the latest analytical equipment to help drive promotion and stay up. Leasing makes this affordable, preventing the need for heavy down payments and keeping the cash in the club where it needs to be.
We have different leasing options between one and four years. This enables us to plan with a club to help determine the best lease period depending on their projected performance over the coming seasons. Expecting promotion? Go for a one-year lease. Don’t make it? Simply extend the lease using one of the four fully costed, transparent end-of-lease options. Expecting to be in the league for many years yet? Go for a longer lease term and benefit from lower monthly repayments. It’s all about giving the clubs outside of the WSL and WSL 2 the equipment that they need to compete at the highest level.
At the time of writing this, RBWFC are within a few points of the automatic promotion spot to WSL 2. We wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season and will be keeping in close touch with Max and Lewis on their progress – both on the pitch and back at HQ.