Bha Makes New Board Appointments
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has confirmed the appointment of six new non-executive directors, who will sit on the board of British racing’s governing body as it implements changes to the way the sport is run.
Not all the six new non-executive directors have high profiles within racing but rather have been chosen for their expertise in areas like regulation, media and communications, government relations, law, human resources, welfare, and betting and gaming, as well as a knowledge of racing.
The latest appointments follow the recruitment of Ladbrokes’ Nick Rust as chief executive earlier this year.
The six started their three-year terms on Monday, with the best known to the sport are racehorse owner and businesman Eamonn Wilmott and former Northern Racing operations director Julie Harrington.
The other four include former Tote board member Noel Harwerth and Laura Whyte, who spent ten years on the John Lewis management board, Atholl Duncan, whose roles included being head of news and current affairs for the BBC in Scotland, and Joe Saumarez Smith – an entrepreneur and gambling expert.
To assist this transition two further directors will be appointed by BHA’s member organisations, the RCA, ROA, Thoroughbred Breeders Association and Licensed Personnel. They will be appointed shortly and be in place for up to 12 months, helping the progression to the new Board.
The new Board is designed to fit with governance best practice and to help the future health and growth of the sport over coming years.
Steve Harman, chairman of BHA, said: ‘This is the start of a new chapter for the BHA Board and the next step in its evolution as a governing and regulatory body.’
‘As seen in our recent chief executive appointment process, this Board recruitment attracted some amazingly talented people, and many of those who were not successful have promised to help Racing in other ways over the coming months and years.’
‘The new appointments mean that there will be a significant broadening and deepening of the expertise around the BHA Board table. This includes Media and Government Relations, individuals with Entrepreneurial, Investor, Financial and Betting backgrounds, good regulatory knowledge and considerable Training, Development and Welfare experience.’
‘As well as these skillsets, we were impressed by the deep-rooted passion and breadth of knowledge of horseracing, which was clear in all of the candidates.’
