Leicester Tigers paid tribute to the stature of the club's major sponsors at a dinner at Stapleford Park near Melton Mowbray on Wednesday evening.Directors, officials and players were joined by main sponsors Caterpillar and partners from Holland & Barrett, MET-Rx, Goldsmiths, STIHL, Chester Barrie, Big Bear, next, De Montfort University, Fischer Future Heat and Nottingham Building Society for the event. Tigers chairman Peter Tom, chief executive Simon Cohen, director or rugby Richard Cockerill and head coach Aaron Mauger were among those who welcomed the sponsors, with players including Tom Youngs, Dan Cole and Brendon O’Connor joining host Matt Poole for a chat on stage. Peter Tom said: "On behalf of the club I would like to thank every one of our sponsors. Sponsorship has increased so much over the years I have been Chairman with, increasingly, interest from global brands.   “Sponsorship is a huge part of generating the income we need to support the team on the pitch and in assisting the redevelopment of facilities for our supporters.”   Chief executive Simon Cohen added: “We are grateful for the assistance of our sponsors and shareholders. We do not have a single owner of the club but we are building on and off the field and that is in large part own to our sponsors and our fans. Without you, we would not be where we are today.”   Tigers players Cole, Youngs, O’Connor, Ed Slater, Tom Croft, Marcos Ayerza, Mathew Tait, Manu Tuilagi, Matt Smith and Freddie Burns joined representatives of the sponsors for dinner.