Jockey Club Venues creates Business Development Team for UK Racecourse Portfolio
Jockey Club Venues has introduced a new regional Business Development team to support conference and event clients across its nationwide portfolio of racecourse venues in the UK. The move is intended to streamline how agencies and event buyers engage with the organisation’s 14 venues and to create clearer points of contact for new business.
Under the new structure, each Business Development Manager will be aligned to a specific region and cluster of racecourses, giving event planners a dedicated representative for their chosen locations. The team has been set up to help customers navigate the full range of spaces and services available within the portfolio.
Business Development Team focus on Regional Venue Cluster
The new Business Development team has been created around defined geographical regions, with each manager responsible for a particular group of Jockey Club Venues racecourses. This regional remit is designed to give buyers and agencies a consistent contact who understands the characteristics and booking patterns of venues in their area.
By organising sales responsibilities in this way, Jockey Club Venues aims to support faster responses to enquiries and more tailored conversations around venue capabilities, layouts and event types. The company intends the structure to reduce complexity for clients who may be considering multiple racecourse venues for conferences, exhibitions or corporate hospitality.
Conference and Event Proposition across Racecourse Venue Portfolio
Jockey Club Venues operates 14 racecourse venues across the UK, all of which host a mix of business events alongside their core racing calendars. The new team has been tasked with strengthening the conference and events proposition of this combined portfolio by presenting the venues as a coordinated, accessible offer for organisers.
Event buyers will be able to work with Business Development Managers to assess which racecourses best suit their requirements, from large scale conferences and exhibitions through to meetings, product launches and corporate entertainment. The regional managers will act as a first point of contact, helping clients explore options across the portfolio rather than approaching each venue separately.
Access for Event Buyer and Agency Customer
A central objective for the new Business Development team is to make it easier for agencies and direct buyers to engage with Jockey Club Venues. The dedicated managers are expected to support customers at the early stages of planning, including initial venue selection, availability checks and outline proposals.
The regional approach is aimed at simplifying conversations for agencies that manage programmes of events nationwide, as well as for corporate clients who may use different racecourses for roadshows or series of meetings. By assigning specific managers to clusters of venues, the company is seeking to reduce repetition in the briefing process and to offer more coherent guidance on availability and capabilities across multiple sites.
Support for Navigation of Venue Option
With 14 venues in the portfolio, Jockey Club Venues recognises that navigating the full offer can be complex for organisers unfamiliar with the racecourse network. The new team has been positioned to help customers understand which locations and facilities align with their audience sizes, format preferences and logistical needs.
Business Development Managers will be responsible for presenting the range of meeting rooms, hospitality spaces and event layouts available within their regional cluster. They will work to clarify how racecourse infrastructure can be configured for non-racing activity, helping to translate the venues’ sporting heritage into viable options for business events and corporate experiences.
Commercial Objective for Conference and Event Business
The creation of the Business Development team reflects the importance of conference and event activity within the wider commercial strategy for Jockey Club Venues. While the racecourses are best known for their racing fixtures, non raceday events form a significant part of their year round use.
By consolidating new business efforts under a coordinated regional structure, the organisation is looking to grow revenue from meetings, conferences and exhibitions while delivering a more joined up service to organisers. The team will focus on building relationships with agencies and corporate clients, promoting the versatility of the racecourses for different types of live events.
Implication for Event Planner and Venue Partner
For planners, the new Business Development team provides a defined route into the Jockey Club Venues network, whether they are exploring a single racecourse or comparing several sites for a series of events. Instead of managing separate early stage enquiries with multiple venues, customers can work through a regional manager who understands the capacity, seasonality and operational considerations of their assigned locations.
This change is also intended to support clearer communication between Jockey Club Venues and its agency partners. By establishing named contacts for each region, the company is aligning its sales structure with how many agencies manage their own client accounts and geographic coverage.
Ongoing Development of Racecourse Venue Business
As Jockey Club Venues continues to position its racecourses as multi use destinations, the new Business Development team represents a step in formalising how it presents that proposition to the event market. The regional managers will play a role in articulating the strengths of each venue cluster, from transport links and regional catchment areas to the flexibility of indoor and outdoor spaces.
While the core remit of the team is new business development, the emphasis on simplifying access and navigation for buyers underlines Jockey Club Venues’ intent to make its portfolio easier to work with for conferences, exhibitions and corporate hospitality. The company expects the regional structure to support more efficient engagement with the UK event community as it promotes its racecourses as venues for a wide range of live events.
