There is a new logo appearing on Alex Tilley and Charlie Guest’s helmets this season. Mark Quinn is the man behind Quinn Estates, as well as being a sponsor to Dave Ryding. His company is one of the biggest mixed use developers in Kent and the South East of England. Having started off as a racer, then Quinn moved on to being a BASI trainer and coaching, preparing aspiring coaches to get through the Eurotest, before moving into property development.
Quinn Estates was born out of having saved money to buy an old water pumping station and turning this into a gym, in Kent. Quinn sold the gym to a large chain of gyms, who subsequently went bust - he got it back and then sold it again. “The bit I loved about building the health club was the building bit so decided to go into residential development. I started off with one house, that went well and it went from there,” explained Quinn on how the business grew.
In 2017, Quinn Estates indirectly employs about 400 people across 48 sites with roughly 22,500 houses in planning and 4 million square foot of commercial under its development.
From his success on the slopes, Quinn attributes what was learned there “helped me massively in business,” he added.
The network of friends that ski racers build up from racing saw Adam Sullivan, an ex GB Team racer from the 90’s and 00’s, ring Quinn up. Mark explains how Adam introduced Dave Ryding to him: “Adam told me, there is this guy with bugger all sponsorship, he needs some help as he is really talented. So I looked him up and thought he has done all right but there was no sign that he was going to make that break through season. So we backed him with quite a lot of money. Initially I was going in with quite a lot of money with another company. That company were told by Delancey that they were not allowed to be involved as they were in the same field. I was in the same field but as I was based in Kent, Delancey did not feel that it would have any effect on them, so we backed him and he smashed it,” Quinn explained.
Over the last few years as the relationship has developed. Quinn has “loved being involved with him. This season we have gone a bit more as we have become the main head sponsor for Charlie Guest as well as Alex Tilley.”
A lot of this support has come from the rapport and talking with Ryding. Ryding has actively encouraged Quinn to put money into others, not just him. “We have had Dave meet clients of ours, he comes across brilliantly, he is a great guy, he is working his backside off and I think he is a complete credit to the country. To do it on the budget that he has done it on is phenomenal. He is against machines that have got tens of millions of pounds behind them which makes the kind of money that he has got like a service charge really. He is operating on a shoe string and the level that he is achieving on that shoestring in incomprehensible, it is amazing. So for us, we are super proud to be involved with him and he is a real inspiration to younger people and hopefully he will inspire Alex and Charlie to fulfil their potential,” Quinn continued.
“Dave has given everybody a different level of belief. The fact that he started really late has enabled him to have the body at 31 and the experience and the muscle memory that has enabled him to do what he has done. When you look back to the race in Levi in November 2017 where he was on the verge of winning a World Cup race. When you see someone you know nearly do it, you start to think that you can do it yourself.
“This has completely reassessed the benchmark and what we want to do is lobby people like Damian Collins (Member of Parliament who is head of the Media and Sport Select Committee) for them to reassess how they sort out the Lottery Funding. It will be a joke if Dave wins an Olympic medal off the back of a building company in the South East of England and a few other committed and generous sponsors. I do not think that that should be the case,” adds Quinn.
Quinn Estates are involved in many community sports sponsorships as well as skiing but it is the personal fulfilment that supporting Ryding, Tilley and Guest that makes him proudest. He can see the hard work that the athletes put in and explains:
“We are not doing it for sane reasons, we are doing it because we are nuts. My accounts department think I am off my nut. I cannot justify doing this but sometimes you do not have to justify stuff, you do it because you believe in them. I read about Charlie’s story, breaking her back, coming back. She has no head sponsor so we did a deal in two weeks with her.
“It is exciting and I just want them to do well. What is the benefit for us? It is more the buzz it gives me from them doing well. Is it going to change us financially? No, it will not but it make me feel good about myself and that is enough really,” Quinn is honest enough to say.
“Sponsoring Dave has been brilliant. I have loved it. He is a great guy and he appreciates what people do and what companies like ours do. He is a brilliant ambassador for British skiing both on and off the piste. My clients loved him and I would encourage anyone to come forward and help him make his dream become reality, which he is, and hopefully Charlie and Alex as well.
Ryding is a prime example of how when an athlete works with a sponsor to the benefit of both parties, this can help other athletes to help realise their own dreams.
“Sponsoring Dave has been brilliant. I have loved it. He is a great guy and he appreciates what people do and what companies like ours do. He is a brilliant ambassador for British skiing both on and off the piste. My clients loved him and I would encourage anyone to come forward and help him make his dream become reality, which he is, and hopefully the girls as well.”
Ryding sported a new head sponsor in Val d’Isere, the Austrian resort of Obergurgl, and they too will start to benefit from the warmth and dedication to the support given to him.