The Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) today announced the appointment of Alex Anderson as its first Commercial Manager with immediate effect. In his new role Alex will be responsible for driving the commercial activity of the RPA, generating new business revenue for investment into a number of education, welfare and insurance projects for the 520 professional players in the Aviva Premiership. Damian Hopley, CEO of the RPA said: “This is a significant appointment for the RPA at the outset of one of the most exciting seasons for rugby union in England. In the 10 years that Alex has been with the RPA, he has forged an excellent reputation in the game and is held in high regard by everyone connected with us. It is a natural evolution for him to take on this new role which offers him a fantastic opportunity to build on the solid commercial foundations of the RPA and work closely with new and existing Business Partners.”

On his appointment Alex Anderson said: “My time as Head of Player Services has been both demanding and rewarding, but the opportunity to work on developing the commercial growth of the RPA was too good to turn down. We have built a number of long term commercial partnerships with a range of excellent companies that provide benefits to both our members and our business partners, and I look forward to developing those partnerships further in the years to come.”