NEWBURY RACECOURSE - Key Persons
Bryan Burrough was a Managing Director of BlackRock Inc and subsequently a Senior Investment Director at Investec Wealth & Investment until he retired in 2017. He was an Investment Manager specialising in Charities. He has been High Sheriff of Essex and Master of the Worshipful Company of Distillers. He is an owner, mainly over jumps, and successes included Corbiere winning the Grand National.
Dominic Burke retired in 2022 from his position of Vice Chairman of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc and a member of its Group Executive Committee. This followed the acquisition by MMC of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc where Dominic had been Group CEO for more than fourteen years. Dominic is a keen owner and breeder with horses in training on the flat and over jumps and is a member of the Jockey Club. In addition to his role as Newbury Racecourse PLC Chairman he is also a non-Executive Director at Investment Management company St James's Place plc. He is also the Honorary Treasurer of the Injured Jockeys Fund.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Jockey Club and Lives and Farms at Compton Beauchamp
Erik Penser is a member of the Jockey Club and lives and farms at Compton Beauchamp, near Lambourn.
Job Titles:
- Chairman and Managing Director of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Limited
Harry Herbert is the Chairman and Managing Director of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Limited, a racehorse syndication Company with over 50 horses in training. The Company has enjoyed many successes and has been responsible for the Epsom Derby winner, Motivator, as well as six other European champions; Lake Coniston, Tamarisk, Delilah, Petrushka, Memory and Harbinger. In 2022 Highclere enjoyed further success when Cachet won the Group One QIPCO 1,000 Guineas. He is a member of the Jockey Club.
Jim McGrath has worked in racing since leaving school in 1974, when he moved to Yorkshire to join the Timeform Organisation where, in a thirty-four-year stint, he held numerous positions, including that of Chairman. Since 1981 he has worked as a pundit, initially for ITV, thereafter, joining Channel 4 Racing in 1984 and since 2019 has worked on a freelance basis for Sky Sports Racing. Jim has also served on various racing bodies, including both BHB and BHA, where he acted as an Independent Director. Formerly a director of Haydock Park Racecourse, he has bred winners of more than sixty races and also been a successful owner.
John Dodds was Chief Executive of Kier Group plc, the international construction business, until retiring in March 2010 after nearly 40 years with the Company. Johnà à à à à às extensive experience in the construction and house building industry sector has been an important asset in Newbury Racecourseà à à à à às property development programme.
Job Titles:
- Catering Manager ( Levy Restaurants UK )
Job Titles:
- Executive Director ( Non - Independent ) Lady Lloyd Webber
Madeleine Lloyd-Webber is a former international three-day eventer who owns Watership Down Stud near Newbury and Kiltinan Castle Stud in Tipperary and has enjoyed numerous Group successes as an owner/breeder. She is a Director, Deputy Chairman of Really Useful Group and Lloyd Webber Theatres. She is a member of the Jockey Club.
Job Titles:
- Company Secretary
- Finance Director
- Interim CEO & Finance Director
Prior to joining as Finance Director in 2020, Mark Leigh spent three years as CFO of Longleat and ten years at global visitor attractions and hotel operator Merlin Entertainments covering various senior finance roles, including five years as FD at Chessington World of Adventures Resort. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Company Secretary
Mark Leigh
Registered office
The Racecourse
Newbury
Berkshire RG14 7NZ.
Telephone: 01635 40015 or, when dialling from outside the UK, +44 1635 40015
Registered in England and Wales with number 00080774
VAT Registration No. is 199301247
Main country of trading: United Kingdom
Corporate Adviser to Newbury Racecourse
Allenby Capital Limited
5 St. Helen's Place,
London EC3A 6AB
Legal Advisers to Newbury Racecourse
Pinsent Mason LLP
Auditors and Reporting Accountants
BDO LLP
55 Baker Street
London
W1U 7EU
Registrars
Neville Registrars Limited
Neville House
Steelpark Road
Halesowen
B62 8HD
Matthew Thompson most recently held the position of Managing Director of Benugo, which is the leading hospitality (food and beverage) business in the visitor attraction sector, with partners such as The V&A, British Museum and London Zoo. Previously, Matthew led the Services business for Mitie Group plc, and spent eight years leading the Sports & Leisure business for Compass Group, both in the UK and globally. Matthew has also held senior management positions at Centrica, Glaxo Wellcome and Zenith.
Since 1999 Sofia Watson has worked for Christies, the auction house, and has a keen interest in racing and regularly attends the racecourse. Sofia studied at University of Lund, Sweden where she read History of Art. She lives on the Compton Beauchamp estate, near Lambourn.