Abbey Insurance has announced two major sponsorship agreements with Ulster Rugby.

The three-year partnership will see Northern Ireland's largest locally owned insurance broker sponsor the Ulster Rugby Academy and Kingspan Stadium's Family Stand.

The exclusive agreement will see the Aquinas end stand at Kingspan Stadium renamed the Abbey Insurance Family Stand with the brand rolling out a range of family friendly match day initiatives throughout the season.

The Academy will be branded the Abbey Insurance Ulster Rugby Academy as it continues to develop the next generation of rugby talent that will go on to represent Ulster and Ireland.

Launching the sponsorships, George Storey, founder and Chairman of Abbey Insurance, said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Ulster Rugby. These exciting sponsorships provide us with an opportunity to support Ulster Rugby and its fans, helping drive the team to success on the pitch, both now and in the future. Abbey is a home-grown company, proud of its local roots, so we are really excited to support a local team which is inspiring international standard sporting excellence right across Ulster.

"We will be working with Ulster Rugby to ensure the Abbey Insurance Family Stand will be a hive of activity on match days with dedicated children's activities and giveaways as we want to deliver an excellent family-friendly experience for supporters of all ages as they cheer on their heroes.

"As the second strand of our sponsorship, by supporting the Ulster Rugby Academy, we are very proud to be investing in the future of professional rugby here. The Academy has a proven reputation for nurturing and developing new talent with many of today's Ulster Rugby stars, including Andrew Trimble, Craig Gilroy, Paddy Jackson and Jacob Stockdale coming through the Academy ranks. Over the next three years we are excited to see the next batch of stars who will pass through the Abbey Insurance Ulster Rugby Academy to go on and play for Ulster and hopefully even pull on a green jersey for Ireland".

Shane Logan, Chief Executive Officer at Ulster Rugby, said: "Abbey Insurance, like Ulster Rugby, shares a commitment to excellence while also being proud of our place within the local community, so we look forward to working together to further enhance these two key strands of the organisation.

"The identification and development of the best local talent within the Ulster Rugby Academy is an absolutely critical area for us as we continue to compete at PRO12 and European level, and we are immensely proud that a considerable number of players have graduated through our Academy system to represent Ireland and indeed the British & Irish Lions with distinction. With the support of Abbey Insurance we look forward to building on this success and further reinforcing our Academy's reputation as among the best in Europe.

"We are very pleased that Abbey Insurance have furthered their commitment to Ulster Rugby with the sponsorship of the family stand at Kingspan Stadium. We proudly promote Ulster games as safe and enjoyable experiences for all the family, so we are excited to see our new partners bringing their activation ideas to life on match days".

Abbey Insurance was started in Newtownabbey in 1973 by founder and Chairman George Storey. It has grown to be Northern Ireland's largest locally-owned insurance broker with twenty-three branches province wide and over 400 employees.