Staff Profile – Steve Keepax, KPMG Programme Director
It is probably because I spend a great deal of time away from work dressed in Lycra that I have been asked to tap a brief staff profile. I am not saying that my role at the Uni is dull at all – in fact being the Programme Director on the KPMG Programme being surrounded by salaried students is anything but, however when people get a sense of what I get up to at the weekends they do tend to ask more questions about that rather than why all my students appear to driving round campus in brand new BMWs and Mercedes.
So before joining The Business School I was a Senior Manager at KPMG, specialising in Audit and Assurance, which makes me ideal for directing the KPMG programme. The aim is to provide School leavers with a degree whilst they build work experience at the Big Four firm. Once graduated they continue to work for KPMG who in addition to funding their tuition fees and Uni accommodation then put the students through their Chartered Accountancy exams. It’s really hard, but rewarding and (virtually) all of the students appreciate the benefit of having secured a good, solid career by their first day at University.
So anyway back to the Lycra… alas it’s not quite as salacious as you may (or may not) be tempted to imagine. A mate of mine talked me into doing a triathlon a couple of years ago. Nothing epic mind, just a sprint triathlon, where once you have slipped into your lycra leotard, you are able to dip your toe (and the rest of you) in the water and try it out: 400m swim, 12 mile bike and a 3 mile run. Basically just a lie down, and sit down and a jog – or that’s how I liked to imagine it would feel. Having achieved the Sprint I then increased my distances culminating in an IRONMAN race with over 2,000 other competitors. Nothing to do with Robert Downey Junior, this was the same format as before but 2.4 miles for the swim, 112 miles for the bike and a marathon to finish. Spent is not sufficient a word to describe exactly how I felt at the end. Some elation, but mostly empty apart from all the caffeine still washing around my bloodstream… a bit like how I felt after giving my first ever 2 hour lecture at University. I have noted that there are other individuals in the Business School with a bit of an athletic fetish, so perhaps a triathlon team is a mere layer of Lycra away?
