Professionals in tune to raise thousands at Y Factor

ALMOST £25,000 was raised at talent show Y Factor with a rendition of Fairytale in New York, performed by professionals Jayne Aarons and Colin Stirling crowned the winning entry.

Held at The Wardrobe in Leeds, Spirit Capital’s Mr Stirling and Ms Aarons, of Squire Sanders, were voted the winners by the 350-strong audience.

Damian Conelly (Barclays) was runner up with his version of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, with Tony Norwood (LDC) in third with his take of EMF’s Unbelievable.

Other performances were give by Laura Demaine and Michael Taylor of Walker Morris, Mike Allen (RBS), Ruth Cherry (Yorkshire Bank), Steve Harris (Lloyds) and Nicola Mcquaid (PwC).

Y Factor is the annual talent show for the Leeds corporate community with proceeds from the event supporting the work of Mencap. Almost £150,000 has been raised for Mencap through the event, which launched five years ago.

The event is sponsored by Walker Morris, Euler Hermes and Lloyds Bank Wholesale Banking & Markets.

Anne Malia, regional fundraiser at Mencap, said: “It was great to see the Leeds corporate finance community turn out in force once again.

“The contestants and ‘Average House Band’ – who are anything but average – pulled out all the stops to deliver another fantastic Y Factor.

“The £24,000 raised will make a significant difference to the lives of many people with a learning disability who Mencap supports.”