Jockey Club Live, the successful joint venture between live music specialists Music+Sport and the UK’s leading racecourse group Jockey Club Racecourses, has announced the appointment of its first Chairman.
 
Nicky Dunn, who has nearly 30 years’ experience in the live music industry will head the board of Jockey Club Live and assumes her new role with immediate effect.
 
Dunn, who has just been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, was Commercial Director of the London Docklands Arena before becoming CEO of the Odyssey (now SSE) Arena in Belfast, a role she held for 10 years before founding her own company IMD Group in 2011, which provides strategic and operational advice to the leisure and entertainment industries.
 
She also holds non-executive positions with a number of high profile organisations including The

London Legacy Development Corporation and  E20  LLP  (Olympic Stadium). She also Chairs the board of  The Titanic Foundation, which owns the highly successful Titanic visitor attraction in Belfast as well as  Netball World Cup (2019).
 
Jockey Club Live launched in 2013 to increase the popularity and commercial success of live music events at the 15 Jockey Club owned racecourses around the UK. It is now the sixth largest music promoter in Britain based on ticket sales. Artists performing at Jockey Club Live’s series of 2016 summer concerts that follow six races at Jockey Club Racecourses include Little Mix, Jess Glynne, Kaiser Chiefs, Bryan Adams and McBusted, among others.
 
Nicky Dunn said: “In the relatively short time since Jockey Club Live launched in 2013 they have established themselves as significant players in the live music market. The combined teams of Music+Sport and The Jockey Club are a formidable partnership and I am looking forward to helping them realise their ambitious vision and to build on their existing success.”
 
Andrew Wilkinson, CEO of Jockey Club Live, said: “Nicky Dunn is a highly skilled Board Chair who is perfectly placed to lead the board of Jockey Club Live. We are in a phase of rapid growth and her track record of success in the live music industry is second to none. She brings with her enormous experience of leading companies and organisations to success.”
 
Paul Fisher, Group Managing Director of Jockey Club Racecourses, said: “Jockey Club Live has now reached a stage of its development where we have been able to attract someone of Nicky's calibre to join us as Chairman. We are hugely excited about the potential of Jockey Club Live and I am looking forward to working with Nicky to help us fulfil our ambitions.”