TCS announced as new title sponsor of London Marathon

Global IT advisory firm Tata Consultancy Services has become the title sponsor of the London Marathon. Taking over from Virgin Money, the firm will now work to enhance the participant and supporter experience of the event, and boost sports-related activities and charitable giving across the UK.

Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, the London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom. It is typically held in April, but has moved to October for 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year, the marathon has a new title sponsor, in the form of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Through its new six-year partnership, TCS will aim to improve the participant and supporter experience of the event. This includes a number of new features which it has helped roll out for its official race app.

Available on the Apple and Google Play stores, its additional features include a Belief Booster, enabling supporters to share encouraging messages for participants, and the ability for event participants to find their live location on the course in London. This feature is now available for virtual participants too, so they can share their actual live location, as opposed to their distance run being shown on the TCS London Marathon course.

Amit Kapur, Country Head, TCS UK and Ireland, commented, “In our first year as title partner of the TCS London Marathon, we will use technology to promote inclusion, sustainability, and healthier choices for communities. We believe in using technology to reimagine and transform companies and communities to drive a positive impact in society.”  

TCS has operated in the UK for more than 45 years, and works with over 200 of the nation’s best-known businesses. As a major supplier of software and IT services to the UK market, it currently employs over 20,000 people in the UK and Ireland – making it among the region’s biggest IT employers. 

Hugh Brasher, Event Director for the TCS London Marathon, added, “We are delighted that TCS is now our official title sponsor and are excited about all the different initiatives we have planned. As we build and develop our six-year partnership with TCS, we are working together to drive forward LME’s digital transformation, allowing us to inspire millions more to build a healthy, active lifestyle, as well as raising even more for charities.”  

At the same time, TCS is working with its chosen charity of the year, City Year UK, an organisation tackling educational inequality, to register the more-than-20 schools it supports for a Mini London Marathon this year. Mini Marathon events will be held on October 1st 2022 in London, and between September 26th and October 21st in schools across the UK. In partnership with the event, TCS has pledged a £10 donation for each of the 7,000 school children participating in the first mass Mini London Marathon. The money will go to buying new PE & IT equipment for schools.

The move is not the only sporting partnership landed by TCS in the last 12 months. The firm was also announced as the title sponsor of the Jaguar Formula E racing team in November 2021, in a multi-year deal which will see the consultancy provide technology and data services, as well as appearing on the side of the team’s car.