London / New York / Hong Kong ― 21st March, 2022 ― Options Technology, the leading Capital Markets services provider, has donated over £6,000 to The Woodland Trust. The funds raised as part of a charity Mournes Seven-Peaks challenge in 2021 were gifted to the Mourne Mountain Rescue team and The Woodland Trust.
Options, which first opened in Belfast in 2014, now has a large headquarters in the Linen Loft building on Adelaide Street, alongside premises in the key financial cities worldwide, including London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Toronto, and Auckland. In 2021, the Belfast team decided to take on the Seven-Peaks challenge to raise money for The Woodland Trust and Mourne Mountain Rescue Team following the damage caused to the Glen Wood on Slieve Donard as a result of a fire.
The Seven-Peaks challenge, widely regarded as the most demanding hike in Northern Ireland, involved 24 team members, with an additional 38 taking on a two-peak challenge on the same day. The challenge raised over £12,000 total.
Danny Moore, Options’ President and CEO, said, “Throughout the pandemic, the Mourne Mountains were a staple location for our teams. They enjoyed some much-needed headspace in what was an extraordinary time. We were devastated to hear about the fires and witness the damage left behind. The Seven-Peaks Mourne challenge allowed us to get together to raise funds for two very worthwhile causes, the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team and The Woodland Trust, while enjoying the mental and physical health benefits of hiking the Mournes with our colleagues.”
Ian McCurley, Director for The Woodland Trust Northern Ireland, added, “We’re really thankful to receive a donation of £6,000 from Options Technology and for them to recognise the vital work The Woodland Trust does across Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland has the lowest tree cover in Europe with just 8.7%, and we are working hard to increase tree cover for people, nature, and climate. In 2021, we bought 156 hectares of Mourne Park, adjacent to the Southern Mournes near Kilkeel. The site, which we hope to open to the public later this year, includes Knockcree ‘King of the Hills’, 73 hectares of precious ancient woodland, and we hope will become a new public beauty spot for those wanting headspace or a day out in the Mournes.”
Today’s news comes as the latest in a series of developments for Options, including the creation of 150 jobs in Belfast, expansion into Canada with the Toronto Office Opening, sponsorship of St. Patrick’s Day SPAR Craic 10k Run, and their Festive donation to fund the NI Children’s Hospice over the Christmas holidays.
ENDS
About Options (www.options-it.com):
Options Technology is the No. 1 provider of IT infrastructure to global Capital Markets firms, supporting their operations and ecosystems.
Founded in 1993, the firm began life as a hedge fund technology services provider. Today, the company provides high-performance managed trading infrastructure and cloud-enabled managed services to over 550 firms globally, providing an agile, scalable platform in an Investment Bank-grade Cybersecurity wrapper.
Options clients include the leading global investment banks, hedge funds, funds of funds, proprietary trading firms, market makers, broker/dealers, private equity houses, and exchanges. With offices in 8 key cities; New York, Toronto, Chicago, London, Belfast, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand, Options are well placed to service their customers on-site and remotely.
In 2019, Options secured a significant growth investment from Abry Partners, a Boston-based sector-focused private equity firm. This investment has enabled Options to considerably accelerate its growth strategy to invest further in its technology platform and expand its reach in key financial centres globally.
Options has been named among the UK’s leading growth companies in the 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table.
For more on Options, please visit www.options-it.com, follow us on Twitter at @Options_IT, and visit our LinkedIn page.
About Abry Partners (www.abry.com)
Abry is one of the most experienced and successful sector-focused private equity investment firms in North America. Since its founding in 1989, the firm has completed over $82 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity or preferred equity placements. Currently, the firm manages over $5.0 billion of capital across their active funds.
For further information, please contact:
Press Contact: Page McLaughlin