A manager in Deloitte’s audit division left other accountancy runners standing, coming 24th in the London Marathon in an impressive two hours and 22 minutes.

The time was a personal best for Kevin Skinner, 28, who was placed sixth among the British runners.

Skinner, who runs for Newham and Essex Beagles athletics club, said: ‘It was a great feeling to finish so high up the field as this was the first marathon I have trained seriously for.’

His next goal is to improve his time sufficiently to represent the UK at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Deloitte has allowed Skinner to take two months off this Autumn to go altitude training in Morocco.