The Miller Group, the UK’s largest, privately-owned housebuilding, property development and construction business, has pledged ongoing sponsorship support for the Olympic-hopeful sailing duo of Luke Patience and Chris Grube.

Luke Patience (20), from Helensburgh, and Chris Grube (22), from Chester, teamed up in 2004 after a successful youth programme to campaign as full-time sailors in the 470 sailing dinghy with the aim of achieving Olympic selection for London 2012.

The Miller Group is firmly behind the young sailors, with funding to be used to cover training and equipment costs. The pair have just completed their second season at Olympic Class level and are making significant progress through the World Rankings achieving a place in the top 30.

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Keith Miller, Group Chief Executive of The Miller Group, said: “We are delighted to be able to support Luke and Chris in their aim of achieving Olympic selection. Their dedication and discipline is admirable and we look forward to watching their continued progress.”

The 470 is recognised as one of the most competitive of the Olympic classes and as members of the RYA Skandia Team GBR – the British team training for the Olympic Games – Luke and Chris are highly focused on world class performance.

Luke said: "Campaigning full-time at Olympic level not only requires a lot of hard work but also significant funding and we are extremely grateful for the support The Miller Group is providing."

The company has sponsored the training kit of World Champion cyclist Chris Hoy for over four years.

The Edinburgh-born athlete has been one of the most successful Scottish sportsmen in the last decade having previously won both gold and silver Olympic medals and holding Olympic and World records.

(CD)