KPMG partners Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds

Professional services firm KPMG has today confirmed its sponsorship of the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds. KPMG joins Columbia Threadneedle Investments and JLL as top-tier partners of the inaugural event, taking place on the 11-12 June 2016.

In addition to the global brand exposure KPMG will enjoy as a result of the partnership, their employees and clients will also benefit from a premium participation experience and VIP hospitality for the elite races, bringing them up close and personal with the thrilling racing action.

Following the recent completion of their Leeds office, one of their biggest UK offices with over 700 employees, KPMG’s sponsorship of the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds is yet further evidence of continued investment in the dynamic city of Leeds.

John Pass, Partner at KPMG in Leeds, commented: “We are excited to be supporting an iconic event in Leeds which will showcase the city on a global stage.

“Sport can be a valuable team-building experience and we are very much looking forward to getting colleagues, clients and contacts in the UK together for the privilege of competing on the same stage as the world’s best.”

These sentiments were echoed by Tim Stemp, Managing Director of event organisers Lagardère Sports : Events UK who said: “We are delighted that KPMG have chosen to partner with the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds and we look forward to working closely with them in the coming months to unlock maximum value from the partnership.”

British Triathlon Chief Executive Jack Buckner added: “It’s fantastic to welcome KPMG as a top-tier partner. There’s a tremendous buzz about this event, and to see the commercial sector backing it adds to the prospect of this being a spectacular event for elite athletes, spectators, volunteers and thousands of amateur competitors.”

Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake said: “We are delighted to welcome KPMG to be an official part of the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, especially as they are another firm with a very strong presence and commitment to the city which has been reinforced by the move to their superb new offices. That this event can attract such major global organisations wanting to be involved is very exciting and is another example of the growing anticipation for what will be a very special unmissable weekend in Leeds next June.”

The Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds will offer the final opportunity to see Britain’s leading triathletes compete on home soil before they head to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Amateur athletes will also be able to compete on the same course - entries opened on 18 August and are available via http://leeds.triathlon.org.

To find out more about the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, part of UK Sport’s National Lottery funded #EveryRoadtoRio series, visit the official event website: leeds.triathlon.org

Also see this short video featuring GB triathletes Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, Non Stanford and Vicky Holland: http://leeds.triathlon.org/event_info/

Follow WTS Leeds on social media: Facebook & Twitter

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Gorman on 07739 456644 or helengorman@britishtriathlon.org or Tom Goldspink on 07795415452 tomgoldspink@britishtriathlon.org.

Notes to editors

About KPMG

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 22 offices across the UK with approximately 12,000 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.9 billion in the year ended September 2014. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. It operates in 155 countries and has 162,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

About British Triathlon

British Triathlon is the Governing Body for the sport in Great Britain. It is responsible for raising the profile and delivering elite performance for Triathlon, Paratriathlon, Duathlon and Aquathlon in Great Britain. Triathlon is a fast growing, dynamic and modern Olympic sport with talented world class athletes, coaches and support staff, focused around delivering world-class events and medal winning performances. Visit www.britishtriathlon.org for more information.

Visit www.britishtriathlonmedia.org for downloadable image galleries, detailed athlete profiles, results, stats and information.

About Leeds City Council

Leeds City Council is the second-largest local authority in England, serving a population of approximately 800,000 people. Leeds has a very proud sporting heritage and the council is committed to encouraging sport as a way of promoting the city and healthy lifestyles, as shown by the success of the 2014 Tour de France Grand Départ as well as hosting sell-out matches in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and successful matches in the Rugby World Cup 2015. The council works with the city’s three universities, national governing bodies and key partners to develop sport from grassroots to elite level. Visit www.leeds.gov.uk for more information.

About the International Triathlon Union (ITU)

The International Triathlon Union is the world governing body for the Olympic sport of Triathlon and all related MultiSport disciplines including Duathlon, Aquathlon, CrossTriathlon and Winter Triathlon.

ITU was founded in 1989 at the first ITU Congress in Avignon, France. It has maintained its headquarters in Vancouver, Canada since then and also has offices in Lausanne, Switzerland and Madrid,Spain. It now has over 167 affiliated National Federations on five continents and is the youngest International Federation in the Olympic Games. Triathlon was awarded Olympic Games status in 1994 and made its Olympic debut in Sydney 2000.

Triathlon is also featured in the Asian Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games. Paratriathlon was accepted into the Paralympic Games in2010 and will make its Paralympic debut in Rio 2016. ITU is proudly committed to supporting the development of the sport worldwide through strong relationships with continental and national federations, working with its partners to offer a balanced sport development programme from grassroots to a high-performance level.

For more information, visit:

www.triathlon.org

About UK Sport:

UK Sport is the nation’s high performance sports agency responsible for the strategic investment of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into Olympic and Paralympic sports and bringing major sporting events to the UK.

Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds is part of UK Sport’s #EveryRoadtoRio events series, which will feature over 30 world class sports events the length and breadth of the UK, with over 900,000 tickets available to the British public to support their athletes.

This ambitious National Lottery funded programme will support British athletes’ preparation and qualification for Rio 2016, with up to 95 direct and over 300 indirect qualification spots available, while generating economic impact for host cities and regions of over £37 million.

Throughout the #EveryRoadtoRio series UK Sport will be promoting exclusive ticket offers, opportunities to meet the athletes and get privileged behind the scenes access to events. Sign up now at www.uksport.gov.uk/events

About Lagardère Sports

Lagardère Sports is a leading sport marketing agency, with a global network of local experts dedicated to delivering innovative solutions that meet our clients’ needs. We believe sport inspires emotions and passion that are essential to enrich people’s lives and generate powerful collective experiences. At Lagardère Sports, we dedicate our expertise and passion to provide our clients with privileged access to the infinite opportunities of sports. Lagardère Sports is part of Lagardère Sports and Entertainment, a company with more than 1,600 employees worldwide and 50 years of experience.

About Columbia Threadneedle Investments

Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a leading global asset management group that provides a broad range of actively managed investment strategies and solutions for individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. With more than 2000 people including over 450 investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia, we manage £323 billion¹ of assets across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, asset allocation solutions and alternatives.

Our priority is the investment success of our clients. We aim to deliver the investment outcomes our clients expect through an investment approach that is team-based, performance-driven and risk-aware.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments started its successful relationship with the ITU World Series in 2013 and has since become global financial services sponsor.

For media enquiries please contact:

Laura Cook, 020 7464 5650, laura.cook@columbiathreadneedle.com

Ella Tekdag, 020 7464 5082, ella.tekdag@columbiathreadneedle.com

All figures as at 30 June 2015. ¹ Source: Ameriprise Financial Q2 2015 earnings release. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investments and any income is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up and may be affected by exchange rate fluctuations. This means that an investor may not get back the amount invested. This material is for information only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation of an order to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments, or to provide investment advice or services. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.