Töölö football stadium becomes Bolt Arena

Bolt.Works announces sponsorship deal with HJK Helsinki.

Recruitment specialist Bolt.Works have entered into a collaboration with football club HJK Helsinki owned Helsinki Stadion Management. To reflect this new partnership, Töölö football stadium will be renamed Bolt Arena, and the club’s first team players will be offered a unique employment guarantee.

Finnish recruitment specialist Bolt.Works have entered into a six-year collaboration with stadium managers Helsinki Stadion Management (HSM). HJK Helsinki owns 100 per cent of HSM’s shares.

Under the terms of the new deal, Töölö football stadium will be renamed Bolt Arena from 29 January 2020 onwards. As part of the wide-ranging collaboration, Bolt.Works has also committed to finding employment for HJK Helsinki first team players following the end of their professional sporting careers. 

The partnerships came about because of the clear similarities the two organisations share. Bolt.Works co-founder Timo Hakkarainen says the company is driven by the same sense persistence and determination to win that the competitive athletes they will now be working with have. 

– Taking on this stadium sponsorship is a big deal for us. We’re doing it because we want to take a stand and publicly associate ourselves with the sort of things that really matter to us as a business. This new partnership with HSM and HJK Helsinki will raise our profile significantly. With our massive marketing campaign and our commitment to excellence in everything we do, we’re confident that we’re well on our way to becoming the industry leader in our field, Hakkarainen said.

Bolt.Works will have a highly visible presence at Bolt Arena, including an extensive advertising presence and more than two hundred display signs. All new first team players will also carry the Bolt logo on their jerseys. 

Employment guarantee for retired players

As part of the deal, Bolt.Works is offering an employment guarantee for all HJK men’s and women’s first team players after they step down from competitive elite sport.

– We know that professional athletes can sometimes struggle to develop their careers after they retire from competitive sport, and this is a global issue. I’m delighted that, in a potential world first, HJK Helsinki will be offering an employment guarantee to former first team players who are looking for new job opportunities after they retire. They’ve given our club their all, and it’s now our turn, and indeed our joy and privilege, to help them get off to a new start, HJK Helsinki CEO Aki Riihilahti explained.

Bolt.Works’s first hire is former HJK first team player Mika Helin. So far, the experience has been a resoundingly positive one for everyone involved.

– A competitive sports background is a huge asset when it comes to business. Athletes tend to be incredibly goal focused, and they really know how to deliver, Hakkarainen says. 

In addition to the employment guarantee offered to the first teams, Bolt.Works is also planning to run recruitment events for HJK Helsinki junior players who are approaching adulthood, their parents and HJK supporters. The first event of its kind is set to take place on 12 February. 

– We’re hoping to attract young people who are looking to secure holiday jobs as well as other people who need a bit of a career boost. Our goal is to find jobs for everyone who turns up on the day looking for work, Hakkarainen said. 

– It’s important that as a sports club, we look after our community. We’re hoping that this initiative will bring the club and our supporters even closer together, Riihilahti added.

Bolt.Works supplies staff for the manufacturing, construction, logistics and the property management sectors and has seen excellent growth over the past few years. The business model combines recruitment with advanced technology and machine learning. In 2018, Bolt.Works’ turnover rose by 50 per cent to reach EUR 14 million, and in 2019 it more than doubled to EUR 31 million. The Bolt community currently comprises 3,700 client businesses and 30,000 registered workers. 

For further information, please contact:

Bolt.Works
Timo Hakkarainen
Co-Founder / Director, Manufacturing Segment
[email protected]
+358 50 3666 333
www.bolt.works

HJK Helsinki
Aki Riihilahti
CEO
[email protected]

Bolt.Works

Bolt.Works is a recruitment company that has developed a new way to bring together jobs and workers. Both staff and their employers can evaluate and recommend each other.

High-performing staff will be paid more, and our customers benefit from a higher calibre of workers.

Bolt employs thousands of people every year across the Finnish manufacturing, construction, logistics and property maintenance sectors.

Bolt’s offices are based in Helsinki, Hyvinkää, Jyväskylä, Kokkola, Kouvola, Kuopio, Oulu, Seinäjoki, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa, but we are happy to serve our clients wherever they are.

Helsinki Stadion Management

Owned by football club HJK Helsinki, Helsinki Stadion Management (HSM) is a property management company charged with running Töölö football stadium. HSM is responsible for pitch and meeting room hire as well as facilities management. HSM also offers workplace wellbeing services, fun and exciting corporate away days and a range of high-quality work capacity assessments.

HJK Oy

HJK Oy is the corporate arm of HJK Helsinki’s men’s first team and manages all football activities and related commercial operations. HJK Helsinki  is Finland’s most popular football club, and for the past 110 years it has led the development of the sport in Finland. 

HJK’s football offering ranges from after-school sessions for kids to women’s and men’s premier league teams. At the moment, the club has more than 3,500 players playing across 150 teams. The club’s activities mean that it is connected with around 10,000 families in the Greater Helsinki area. 

HJK Helsinki has an unbroken Finnish premier league track record dating back to 1964, with 29 Finnish Championship and 12 Suomen Cup titles to its name. The club is also the most successful Finnish club of all time internationally, having reached the UEFA Champions League group stage in 1998 and the UEFA Europa League group stage in 2014.