Cornish Pirates have strengthened their ownership group with the addition of television presenter Nick Knowles, who has become a shareholder in the Championship club.

Knowles, best known for presenting programmes including DIY SOS and National Lottery: Who Dares Wins, is the latest investor to join the Pirates as the club continues to build for the future both on and off the field.

The investment follows a significant period of change at the Mennaye Field. Earlier this year, Cornish Pirates became the first English professional rugby club to receive American ownership backing after Pittsburgh-based Stonewood Capital Management acquired a stake in the club.

Chief executive Sally Pettipher welcomed Knowles' involvement, highlighting both his passion for rugby and his longstanding connection with the club.

She said: "He's Cornish by choice.

"There's a spirit to the place that gets under your skin and he's been an ambassador for Cornish Pirates for over a season now already, he's in the crowd and people don't know.

"This investment, becoming a shareholder, is him putting some skin in the game and bringing with him his rugby heritage.

"He's got a rugby brain, he's got a rugby background, he's well connected in that world, he does an awful lot of philanthropy in that world and he brings visibility to us, which I think is really important.

"So the more eyes on we have, the more we can build our national and international audience.

"He is talented beyond what you see on screen and I'm very, very grateful for his input."

The club has been actively seeking additional investment since the departure of long-serving owner Sir Dicky Evans in January 2025. Pirates' ownership structure now includes a combination of American investors and UK-based shareholders as the club works towards its long-term ambitions.

Pettipher explained that the latest investment forms part of a wider strategy designed to help the club develop over the coming years.

She said: "That's an enabling investment to take us to the stage after this.

"So it's important, but it's not a lottery win, I would say.

"We have a 10-year development plan. If I can make it faster I will, but the 10-year development plan is a series of investments that gets us to be a top of Premiership club.

"That's a long way from where we are because we have to be ready, have to meet minimum standards, and we have to be a fantastic Championship club."

While stadium requirements are often viewed as the biggest obstacle to reaching the Premiership, Pettipher believes there are a number of significant challenges the club must address before making the step up.

She said: "There are many minimum standards that are required to become a Premiership club and one of those is a business plan that allows you to commercially exist.

"There's a new minimum standard that's come in which is a salary floor, so not just a salary cap. So the business plan has to support a £5m budget for your rugby players alone.

"People don't think about the fact that we only have 14 trading days a year, 14 home matches.

"So actually, what we have to do as a business is create a business that is working 365 days a year and is generating the sort of income that can support a club with a business plan required by the Premiership.

"The great thing about these new investors is they are very, very talented business people as well as rugby people.

"So adding in business brains and planning brains and information networks and contact networks is a gift that they give and an investment that they're putting in alongside the financials."

Away from ownership matters, the club has also provided an update on redevelopment work at the Mennaye Field following damage caused by Storm Goretti earlier this year.

The main grandstand suffered significant damage during the storm, forcing Cornish Pirates to temporarily relocate two league fixtures to nearby Camborne while repairs and safety work were carried out.

Pettipher confirmed the stand will not be ready in time for the club's pre-season fixture against Saracens on 28 August.

She said: "The painful thing is that that stand is not going to be ready for us when we play Saracens at the end of this month.

"The grandstand will be a building site and unavailable, which is extremely upsetting to me because that is 600 premium seats that we are unable to use and that hits my bottom line quite substantially.

"It should be ready for our first league match which is on 20 September."