Effective 1st July British Eventing announced the appointment of Jude Matthews as their new Chief Executive Officer and Paul Graham as their new Chief Sport Officer. Both appointments follow the recent resignation of David Holmes, who has been CEO for the past 4 years, and a recent overhaul of the BE website.
The announcement on the BE Website goes on to say:
“A passionate and active grassroots event rider, Jude has been in the role of interim CEO since April, 12 months prior to which she served on the BE Board as a non-executive director. Jude brings with her more than 17 years’ experience with organisations such as KPMG, Hanson PLC, and more recently in her role as General Counsel & Company Secretary at FTSE100 listed Hargreaves Lansdown PLC.
Jude commented; “I am thrilled to have been appointed as British Eventing’s Chief Executive; the past few months have been both challenging and rewarding. There has been a lot to address, and we know there is still more to do. It is exciting to be working with such a strong team, and I look forward to the opportunity to move the sport forward.”
In addition, to reflect the focus on the development of the sport BE will appoint Paul Graham as Chief Sporting Officer (CSO). The CSO will, along with Chief Operating Officer (COO), Wendy McGowan, report directly to the CEO.
Paul Graham is a respected management professional with 18 years’ sports management experience. Paul recently returned to BE as Acting Sport Manager having previously worked at BE from 2001 to 2011. After six years at British Dressage as Sport Operations Manager, he moved to British Triathlon as Head of Customer Experience. Most recently Paul ran his own Sport Consultancy working with Badminton Horse Trials, Bolesworth International Horse Show and Liverpool International Horse Show. Paul has also competed up to CCI3*-L.
Paul commented; “I’m excited to be back with British Eventing. For me this is a real opportunity to engage and listen to our members; we have so much passion in eventing and I want to channel that to innovate and invigorate the strategic direction of the sport. I’m looking forward to working with the Board, head office and regional teams in order to drive the sports growth and development.”
Fiona O’Hara, Chair of the Board said, ‘I am delighted to welcome Jude and Paul into their new roles. Their business and sports knowledge combined with Wendy’s experience provides BE with a balanced and talented leadership team that will drive collaboration, openness and growth across the sport. I and the board are very much looking forward to working with them’”
