UK Athletics, the body that governs the sport in the country, has agreed a partnership with accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton.
The five-year agreement names the firm an official partner of UK Athletics. The period will cover the International Association of Athletics Federations’ World Championships in London in 2017, along with the International Paralympic Committee’s 2017 World Athletics Championships, also held in the English capital, and the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
As part of the deal, Grant Thornton will offer its expertise and services to UK Athletics’ officials, coaches and athletes. The firm will also help the body with the creation of the organising committee for the 2017 Championships in London.
Niels de Vos, chief executive at UK Athletics, said: “This partnership with Grant Thornton is about building dynamic teams who can create events and environments that encourage peak performance throughout the organisation. Grant Thornton will provide quality individuals and resources that will provide additional support and critical thinking to the government body above and beyond our usual means.”
De Vos said UK Athletics is also keen to bring in ideas from Grant Thornton that are geared towards improving performance across the organisation and at its events.
He added: “If British Athletics is going to be the best we can be we need to look outside our sport and get ideas from sources where perhaps other governing bodies wouldn't look. This is what a business would do; they look at a whole series of things and compare themselves with competitors. Good businesses will then go way outside their sector in an effort to improve and innovate, which is what we are doing by collaborating with Grant Thornton.”