The Jockey Club Venues has strengthened its conference and events proposition with a new regional Business Development team, designed to make it easier for event buyers and agencies to access and navigate its portfolio of 14 racecourse venues across the UK.
Each Business Development Manager will represent a defined region and group of venues. The team will be headed up by Kelly Englefield, Group C&E Manager and Katherine Hume, Head of Pro-active Sales. Their focus will be on developing relationships across the corporate and agency markets and helping buyers identify the venues and opportunities best suited to their events. 
Jennifer Axford will take responsibility for Aintree and Haydock Park in the Northwest; Andrew Rainbird will represent Epsom Downs, Kempton Park and Sandown Park in London; Sophie Bowden takes responsibility for Cheltenham and Newmarket; while Maria Gushchina represents Warwick, Nottingham, Huntingdon and Market Rasen. Emma Bullas will work with agents as National Business Development Manager (maternity cover).
Katherine Hume, Head of Pro-active Sales, comments: “Buyers increasingly need more than a list of spaces and capacities. They need a partner who understands their brief, can introduce them to different options and help them uncover opportunities they may not previously have considered.
“The new Business Development team is about making the experience better for event buyers. Rather than expecting a buyer to know which racecourse is right for their brief, our BDMs can help open up the portfolio and start with the event itself: what are they trying to create, who is it for and what does success look like? From there, we can introduce the spaces and possibilities that make sense.”
With venues capable of hosting conferences, exhibitions, awards ceremonies, dinners and large-scale events, the regional approach gives buyers a dedicated contact who can build a deeper understanding of their requirements while helping them explore the breadth of the portfolio.
For planners, the portfolio offers conference, gala dinner, exhibition and live-event capabilities alongside audio-visual services, catering, outdoor space and dedicated event management.
