THEY are the Southampton colleagues who have the X-factor when it comes to challenges.

Staff at AndersElite recruitment agency in Ocean Village are preparing for one of their biggest challenges yet by scaling the 1,000m Mount Snowdon.

Among them will be former X-Factor finalist Simon Vitsaides, who tasted fame in 2005 with his Southampton-based boyband 4Tune.

Daily Echo:

Simon Vitsaides as part of Southampton band 4Tune in 2005

The 31-year-old and his colleagues will be taking part in the demanding challenge to raise awareness and funds for the CRASH charity, which focuses on improving buildings used by homeless people nationwide.

The firm is a patron of CRASH and holds various fundraising activities over the year to raise as much money as it can.

The nine-strong team will take part in the Snowdon Multi-Activity challenge – a triathlon-style event that involves a 17k cycle ride over rough terrain, a 15k trek and a 4k kayak to the finish line in just 12 hours.

They will be embarking on the challenge tomorrow (SUN).

4Tune, which consisted of Simon, Phil Kemish, and brothers Mike and Anthony Hannides, were mentored by Simon Cowell after making it through to the finals of The X-Factor in 2005.

But they were sent home from the competition in the second round despite an impressive performance of the Jackson 5’s classic I’ll Be There.

They later tasted success in the live music scene for two years after the competition.

Now Simon has his sights set on his highest challenge to date.

He said: “It is a great joy to take part in raising money for this worthwhile cause and to date, as a company, and with the great efforts of a strong team we have raised over £26,000.

“This is undoubtedly our biggest challenge yet physically and mentally and we have set ourselves a goal of raising £6,000 so every donation received really does help.”