RFU Announces Professional Services Deal

The Rugby Football Union has announced EY as the Official Professional Services Supplier to England Rugby, expanding an existing relationship after the firm was appointed as the governing body’s official tax advisor 18 months ago.

The new agreement will see EY offer general tax advice and planning, as well as helping to deliver a number of business consultancy projects.

Supporting the RFU in the run up the Rugby World Cup in 2015, EY has been appointed to work closely with departments across the organisation beyond the corporate functions, adding its services across all levels of the game.

Tasked to deliver objective advice and business analysis on a range of strategic projects, EY will be consulting on how to improve business efficiency and secure the sustainability of the community game across England.

Sophie Goldschmidt, RFU chief commercial officer, said: ‘This announcement comes at an important time for the RFU as we build towards next year’s World Cup. EY’s high-level of objective advice will be crucial in helping us to deliver against our strategic plan. This is another globally recognised brand to add to our partnership portfolio and we both share long-term ambitions for the partnership.’

Having worked closely with EY for a few years, Steve Brown, RFU chief financial officer, added: ‘We have been impressed with EY’s partnership approach, investing significant time and energy into learning about our business. It is fantastic to see how passionate their team is about what we do. We look forward to benefitting from their advice over the coming years.’

Sharon Stotts, EY Director commented, ‘We’ve been privileged to be able to work with Steve and his team over the past 18 months on a number of interesting and exciting projects and look forward to working together on many more.’

England face the All Blacks in the first Test of a three-match series in Auckland on 7th June.