Former ICAEW chief executive Eric Anstee is to ask Big Four partners to contribute £2.5m in seed funding for an educational charity project to improve access to the profession.

In a set up that will be known as The Foundation, Anstee is asking each of the 2,500 partners in the Big Four to contribute £200 a year for five years to the project, which will be used to fund the university education of youngsters from underprivileged backgrounds who want to become chartered accountants.

After conducting fundraising within the Big Four, Anstee plans to go to industry to raise further funds. He plans to eventually raise £10m.

Anstee also hopes to use a portion of the Foundation’s funds to sponsor research into corporate governance.

Since his departure from the ICAEW, Anstee has focused on building his non-executive career in addition to his charity work. He was recently appointed as a non-exec at digital advertising company Screen FX.

Anstee had previously worked as finance director of FTSE 100 insurer Old Mutual as well as FD of Energy Group and Eastern Electricity.

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