Bradford & Bingley last night unveiled their plans to become a Premier force in English rugby union.

They told a meeting of businessmen at their Wagon Lane headquarters that they are "deadly serious" about their ambition to play alongside the likes of Wasps and Harlequins by 2006.

And they revealed that they will brand themselves as the Bees from next season, and their new strip is yellow and black with a honeycomb background.

The name Bees will be carried on the back and a new badge with two bees on it has been produced to represent the change of image.

Club president Ray Allen said: "We are utterly determined to establish an Allied Dunbar Premiership One club in the Bradford Metropolitan area.

"We have the dedication, ambition and enthusiasm to realise our dream, but we are calling on Bradford's business community to help us with financial backing.

"We need to raise at least £75,000 a year from business partners who share our vision so that we can keep our best players and attract more good ones to the club.

"We want to provide the city with another club to stand alongside the Bulls and City performing at the very highest level."

The club are also planning a big community programme so that they can deliver coaching to young players in schools.

They see the development programme as crucial to their long-term growth, and have already reached a £45,000 sponsorship deal spread over three years from the Bradford & Bingley Building Society.

This has been topped up by a further £30,000 from the government's Sportsmatch scheme and will finance the community initiative.

The club also outlined their timescale for climbing the rugby ladder from their present position in Thwaites North One.

They plan to operate a semi-professional first team squad within the current structure for a further two years at least.

Once they have achieved promotion to Jewson National League One or beyond, the Bees plan to evolve into a Bradford Met team at the apex of Bradford's rugby union structure with an integrated schools and club network.

Allen added: "We hope that we can persuade other clubs in the area that it is vital to support the objective of a premier club in Bradford and to feed the best players to the top.

"Our case for being at the core of the development is simple. Bradford & Bingley plays in the most senior league of all the Bradford Met clubs and has an enviable infrastructure."

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