The four teams which participated in the Godiva Cup junior ice hockey tournament

A host of Midlands businesses joined forces to ensure a national junior ice hockey tournament was able to take place.

A total of 12 firms from the professional sector pledged the funds needed to organise the sixth annual Godiva Cup tournament held at Coventry’s Skydome Arena.

Teams from Oxford, Peterborough and Milton Keynes travelled to Coventry to take part in the competition which saw Oxford finish victorious, with Peterborough finishing as runners-up and Coventry in third place.

Matt Hardy, who works at Midlands insolvency experts Poppleton and Appleby and supports the Coventry Blaze Academy which organised the tournament, said: “We were delighted at the appetite among businesses in the region to support junior sport.

“We fully appreciate these are difficult times for business, so rather than looking for one major sponsor for the event we targeted smaller amounts of money from a large number of businesses.
“It was great to see so many Midlands firms coming together to ensure this event took place and we are immensely grateful for their support.”

The full list of firms which supported the event included Poppleton and Appleby, Spencer Gardner Dickens, Handlesbanken, Burrows Scarborough, Harrison Beale and Owen, Harrison Clark, Brindley Twist Tafft and James, Neil Davies and Partners, Walker Thompson, Murphy Salisbury, Wright Hassall and Stuart Fletcher Barrett.