Ernst & Young boasts ‘fittest corporate financiers in the Midlands’

A team of intrepid employees from a Birmingham professional services firm are claiming to be the ‘fittest corporate financiers in the Midlands’.

The corporate finance team at Ernst & Young’s Colmore Square offices are training for the Rotary Shakespeare Half Marathon, which is taking place in Stratford-upon-Avon on 27 April. Also based in Birmingham, Jon Hughes - the firm’s UK managing partner for corporate finance – is taking part in the London Marathon on 12 April; whilst partner Mathew Carter is gearing himself up for a 120 mile cycling endurance race over the French Alps, called La Marmotte.

Speaking about the team’s sporting ventures, Mathew Carter said that training for the Rotary Shakespeare Half Marathon has been great for building a real sense of team spirit.

He said: “Nearly all 17 members of the Transaction Support team in Birmingham are taking part in the half marathon and, with just a few weeks to go before the big event, is creating a real buzz in the office.

“This is the first time we have ever attempted something like this but everyone has shown real enthusiasm and is determined that we will all make it over the finish line, although in what state no one knows!.”

Continuing Mr Carter said that he is currently undergoing a gruelling training regime to prepare himself for the La Marmotte cycling endurance race in 2009. “The Rotary Shakespeare Half Marathon is one of a number of long distances competitions I am taking part in this year in order to build up my fitness for La Marmotte”, he added.

Jon Hughes explained that he is running the London Marathon in April and has set himself the ambitious target of raising over £5,500 in sponsorship money for the Mary Anne Evans Hospice, which is based in Warwickshire.

He said: “Thanks to the generosity of colleagues, clients, family and friends, I am on track to reaching my fundraising target. Ernst & Young’s policy of matched funding, up to the value of £500, will also provide a real boost.

“I can’t deny that the prospect of running over 26 miles for the London Marathon is daunting but I am looking forward to the challenge.”

Concluding Mr Hughes said: “Combined, the team will be clocking up an impressive 248 miles of long distance competition running throughout April, which must surely make us one of the fittest corporate finance teams in the Midlands.”