Committee Members

Martin was born in Yorkshire. He graduated from Durham University in 1979 and went on to obtain his MBA in the USA.

In 1980 he started The Saint Group a private office equipment company which was sold to Danka plc in 1993. From then until 1999 he was CEO of Danka’s International Operations. During this six-year period he acquired over 50 companies in 30 different countries. Danka grew to be the world’s second largest photocopier company with sales in excess of £1bn.

In 2000, he founded another company Azzurri Communications, a UK based Voice & Data Integrator, which grew to 700 staff and £150m turnover in 6 years. In 2006 Azzurri was sold for £180m to The Prudential Group. In recognition of his achievements at Azzurri Martin was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003.

In a 30 year career he has acquired over 70 companies and integrated these businesses to create two groups of companies both of which were subsequently sold.

Martin is currently a Non Executive Director of 6 other companies including Gloucester Rugby Club where he is Chairman. He lives in Cheltenham with his wife and 4 children.

Zara Tindall is a regular visitor to Cheltenham Racecourse and has owned, bred and pre-trained several racehorses, including horses currently with Cotswold-based trainer, Martin Keighley.

The British public voted Zara 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year after she won gold aboard Toytown at the Eventing World Championships in Aachen. She was appointed MBE in the 2007 New Year Honours for services to equestrianism.

Zara is married to former England rugby captain and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner, Mike Tindall MBE. The couple live in Gloucestershire with their two daughters and one son.

Michael is a lifelong National Hunt fan.  Brought up in the Wirral he was a regular visitor to Bangor-on-Dee and Aintree from a young age.  He co-owns Ga Law, winner of the 2022 Paddy Power Chase, amongst other horses.

As a qualified Chartered Accountant, Michael joined his family business Boodles in 1984.  Having been Managing Director for many years, he is now Executive Chairman. Boodles is the sponsor of The Cheltenham Gold Cup.  His twins Geordie and Honour both work in Boodles and are active in the company’s relationship with Cheltenham.

Michael is also Chairman of The Goldsmiths’ Centre, which exists inter alia to train young jewellers and silversmiths. He was a trustee of Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity for many years.

Other interests include golf, Liverpool FC and wine.

John Inverdale has been one of the country’s leading broadcasters for the past 35 years, and for 31 of those, up until 2019, he presented the Cheltenham Festival for BBC Radio.

A National Hunt fan all his life, he has part-owned a battalion of horses that have so far failed to make any material difference to the sport’s record books.  He once almost owned the winner of the Champion Hurdle, but it’s a long story.

A member of the RFU Council, he is also president of a leading spinal injuries charity Aspire, and regional president of the rugby charity Wooden Spoon.

Martin spent his career in the City as a Stockbroker, picking up a love of horse racing in Australia after leaving school.

He has been involved as an Owner and a long-standing Member of Cheltenham along with other courses and a keen cricketer, and followes of Gloucester Rugby Club. 

Martin has also been an Auctioneer at many charity events over the last 30 years. 

Margaret has had a huge interest in racing for some years, when she moved to Cheltenham, her enjoyment for jump racing grew. Margaret has been an Annual Member of Cheltenham Racecourse for almost 30 years and has been involved in syndicates of both jump and flat racing with several trainers over a similar period.

Margaret is married, with three children and has been based in Cheltenham since 1990. She has volunteered for many years for different charities, most recently with Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees. She was a governor of a local state primary school for over eight years.

Margaret is also a keen cricket fan and regularly plays tennis.

Max set up Ultima Business Solutions in 1990 which primarily focusses on selling IT services and solutions and by 2019 the business had a turnover of £130m employing over 400 people. At that point, he sold a majority stake to Apse Capital, a London-based Private Equity Company.

Ultima have sponsored the Ultima Handicap Chase on the Tuesday of the Festival since 2015 a race which over the years has produced some excellent winners, including Corach Rambler and Chianti Classico.

Max is married to Paula and they have 2 children together, Ella and Jack. Ella shares Max’s passion for jump racing and is heavily involved as a racing presenter and she also looks after their string of horses, keeping their numerous co-owners informed and updated. Jack on the other hand prefers 4 wheels to 4 legs and runs his own social media network business, although still enjoys a day at the races!

Max is very fortunate to have enjoyed some notable successes on the track over the years including 5 grade 1 winners, 2 each from Walkon and The World’s End and one from Grumeti. Also winning the Cesarewitch in 2015 with Grumeti. Currently, they have around 25 horses in training, owned with good friends, in both Britain and Ireland.

Jump racing has played a major part in Max and his family’s life for the past 2 decades. He has been very fortunate to experience some incredible days, and he believes there is nothing better than a day at the races, especially at Cheltenham!