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TETLEY STEPS DOWN AT THIRSK
Published:
06/12/2010
Thirsk Racecourse has
appointed International Racecourse Management
Limited (IRM) to manage its affairs
with effect from Tuesday 4th
January 2011, when the current Managing Director
and Clerk of the Course, Christopher Tetley,
who has managed Thirsk
Racecourse since 1985, will step-down.
Paying tribute to Christopher
Tetley the Thirsk Chairman John Smith said:-
“Christopher has done a great job developing
Thirsk Racecourse into a thriving
modern country track and, after some 25 years at
the helm, he has now decided
to step-down. On behalf of
everybody connected with Thirsk, we wish him a
long and happy retirement. We are,
however, delighted that Christopher will
continue as non-executive Director of Thirsk, as
well as assisting IRM in his
capacity as a Clerk of the Course, and so he
will remain a familiar figure around
the Racecourse!”
Christopher Tetley said:-
“I have had many wonderful years as Managing
Director at Thirsk and would like
to thank my co-Directors and all of the staff
for their support throughout my
tenure. Like a number of
racecourses in recent years, with careful
investment
Thirsk Racecourse has evolved into a modern,
thriving and diverse business and
leisure venue and I am delighted to have played
a part in Thirsk’s success. I
believe that now is the right time for me to
step-aside as Managing Director.”
IRM Group Chief Executive
John Sanderson said:-
“IRM is both honoured and delighted to be
charged with the future management
of Thirsk Racecourse. With the
finances of British Racing in the mess they are,
following Christopher will
not be easy; British racecourses are
facing-up to some huge
challenges and Thirsk is no
exception! The IRM team is ideally
placed to manage Thirsk,
particularly at such a
problematic time for the industry and we look
forward to taking-over.”
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Redcar adds to
new-look team
Published:
31/10/2008 (Features)
REDCAR
will welcome a new member to its revamped management
team on Monday, when Amy Fair joins from Nottingham
racecourse, where she was commercial manager.
Fair, 30, will be in charge of day-to-day management as
well as having commercial responsibilities.
Fair, who moved from Newmarket to Nottingham as
commercial manager a year ago, is IRM's second capture
from Jockey Club Racecourses in as many months.
Warwick clerk of the course Fiona Needham was appointed
general manager and clerk at Catterick last month to
replace Jonjo Sanderson, who has succeeded his elder
brother James at Wetherby.
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IRM to run
Redcar
Published:
27/09/2008 (News) Howard Wright
REDCAR
chief executive Neil Etherington is leaving the troubled
track at the end of the season, when John Sanderson's
International Racecourse Management company will resume
overall management control. Sanderson is a director of
Redcar, writes Howard Wright.
IRM provided all management ser vices until Etherington
was appointed three years ago, since when the racecourse
company has run into a succession of local
controversies, chiefly centring on chairman Lord
Zetland's ambition to build a new racecourse.
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Sanderson's
group wins Bahrain contract
Published:
17/09/2008 (News) Howard Wright
JOHN
SANDERSON'S International Racecourse Management company
has landed the contract to help in the complete
renovation of the sole racetrack in Bahrain, at Raffa,
writes Howard Wright.
The move has led to a reshuffle among the group's senior
management in Britain, in which Sanderson's two sons
James and Jonjo are most affected, while the destination
of new recruit Fiona Needham, who is working out her
notice as Warwick clerk of the course, is now known.
James Sanderson is leaving his post as chief executive
at Wetherby to run the Bahrain operation as project
manager, and will be replaced by his younger brother
Jonjo, currently general manager and clerk at Catterick.
Jonjo's position will go to Needham, marking her first
experience of racecourse management.
The departure overseas of James Sanderson, who headed
IRM's operation in Saudi Arabia before returning to be
chief executive atWetherby, means the Racecourse
Association will have to fill his role as vice-chairman
to David Thorpe.
Signatures have yet to be put on the deal between IRM
and the Bahrain Equestrian and Racing Club, run by the
ruling Al Khalifa family, with Sheikh Rashid bin Isa Al
Khalifa as chairman.
However, Sanderson said: "It's coming together, but
there has been an inevitable delay because it is Ramadan
for the whole of September. We don't have a timetable
yet, and the masterplan is still being put together, but
racing starts again next month, and it will continue
while the redevelopment takes place."
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Needham set to
join IRM
Published:
09/09/2008 (News)
FIONA
NEEDHAM is standing down as clerk of the course at
Warwick and Huntingdon to take up the same position with
International Racecourse Management, for whom she will
also have a management role.
IRM chief executive John Sanderson confirmed the
appointment, but was unable to say at which of the
group's three tracks - Wetherby, Redcar and Catterick -
Needham will be based.
The move represents a career advance for the former
amateur rider who was at the centre of controversy after
the abandonment of Warwick's meeting on September 6 last
year that resulted in the course being fined £2,500,
although a disciplinary inquiry cleared her of any
blame.
Needham said: "I am looking forward to joining IRM. I
have thoroughly enjoyed my five years at Jockey Club
Racecourses and appreciate all the opportunities and
support they have given me."
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BUSINESS
MATTERS: IN TRAY - Tracks earn safety awards
Published:
30/04/2006 (Business) Howard Wright
HEALTH and
safety awards have gone to four racecourses - Catterick,
Redcar and Wether by, which are serviced by
International Racecourse Management, and Chester.
IRM has collected the international safety award from
the British Safety Council for the second year running.
Chief executive John Sanderson says: "We take Health and
Safety extremely seriously, and these awards are a
fitting tribute to the work done by Nick Russell, our
safety manager, and the staff at the three courses."
At Chester, 30 race day assistants and evacuation
stewards have been awarded NVQ Level 2 certificates
after a course in spectator control.
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Business
Matters: course circular
Published:
17/04/2005 (Sport) Howard Wright
INTERNATIONAL Racecourse Management has scooped a major
accolade from the British Safety Council for its health
and safety commitment at Catterick, Redcar and Wetherby
racecourses.
The International Safety Award will be handed over to
chief executive John Sanderson and his team at a
ceremony in London next month, after they came through a
rigorous inspection of health and safety policies and
implementation.
Sanderson paid tribute to the work of Nick Russell, H&S
manager for IRM, while David Ballard, British Safety
Council director general, said: ``The awards are a mark
of proven and significant achievement in safety
standards, and by making safety an important feature of
everyday working practice, IRM is reducing accidents and
ill health, while improving productivity and
profitability.''
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Business
matters: changing faces
Published:
19/12/2004 (Sport)
THE
Sanderson family will soon be back in full harness at
Wetherby racecourse.
James Sanderson, elder son of chairman John, is to
become chief executive next month, when Tim Betteridge
joins the Tote as racecourse pool-betting commercial
director.
Betteridge has been at Wetherby since May 2002, when
James Sanderson vacated the role of general manager to
oversee the management of a new track at Riyadh in Saudi
Arabia.
Sanderson, 36, rejoined International Racecourse
Management, where father John is chief executive, in
January this year, taking up a new post as director of
operations. James has since also replaced John Gundill
as Redcar's general manager.
APPRENTICE Steve Parsons has left Marcus Tregoning's
yard to join Stan Moore.
BETFAIR legal eagle David O'Reilly is the new temporary
general secretary of the Betting Exchange Trade
Association, following Andrew Silverman's departure from
the same company.
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JAMES SANDERSON ELECTED TO RACECOURSE
ASSOCIATION BOARD
Date: Thursday, 24 February 2005
James Sanderson has been elected by the
small independent racecourses onto the RCA
Board to fill a vacancy left by Tim
Betteridge following his departure to join
the Totepool as Commercial Director.
James’ election follows a family tradition;
his father John Sanderson has been on the
RCA Board for a quarter of a century.
James has recently returned to Wetherby
Racecourse to take up the role of Chief
Executive, having previously been General
Manager at the course from January 1999 to
March 2002. He is also Director of
Operations for International Racecourse
Management Ltd and Clerk of the Course at
Redcar.
In between his Wetherby Racecourse
appointments James was seconded to the Saudi
Arabian Equestrian Club as the Racing
Manager at King Abdul Aziz Racecourse &
Equestrian Centre, in Riyadh.
Commenting on the appointment, RCA Chairman
David Thorpe said: “I am delighted that
James is joining the Board. We are fortunate
that racecourses have such a great pool of
talented and experienced professionals like
James to build a strong board in order to
grow the quality of British racing. I look
forward to working with him”.
James Sanderson said: “The RCA has a major
role to play in the future of racing and I
am delighted to have been elected to the
Board to work towards securing the best
outcome for racecourses.”
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Sanderson extends reach to help new Russian track
Published: 05/08/2005
(Sport) Howard Wright
JOHN
SANDERSON, whose International Racecourse Management
service covers Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, as well as
closer-to-home venues such as Catterick and Wetherby, is
extending his reach to Russia, writes Howard Wright.
Sanderson is putting together a management team to run a
new £28 million racecourse due to open later this month
in Kazan, capital city of the republic of Tatarstan,
720km due east of Moscow.
Work on the nine-furlong oval track and grandstands to
accommodate up to 30,000 racegoers began only six months
ago, and 2,000 people are working 24 hours a day so that
the project can be opened by Russia's president Vladimir
Putin on August 27.
Sanderson said: ``There's a big incentive to be ready,
because this is the millennium of the founding of Kazan,
and there's a lot going on in the city, of which
building the racecourse is the biggest development.''
Kazan's existing racecourse, one of 11 in Tatarstan,
will be replaced by the new facility, which will operate
three tracks for Flat racing, trotting and 480 horses in
training.
The project has the full support of the republic's
government and is the brainchild of businessman Rashit
Shaikhoutdinov, 47, a deputy in the state council who
has horses in training with Paul Cole under the name of
his company, the Siv Corporation, including Newbury
Spring Cup winner Fine Silver.
Cole introduced Sanderson to Shaikhoutdinov three months
ago, following a recommendation from Weatherbys' Nick
Cheyne.
Sanderson said: ``This will be one of the serious
miracles of construction when it opens, but I'm
confident it will be finished in time.''
The opening meeting will be staged largely using local
officials, and there is no formal programme laid down
for the rest of this year, but Sanderson is working on
this and a fixture list for 2006, to include at least
one summer international fixture, as well sourcing a
chief executive, Flat racing manager and commercial
manager from Britain.
The French PMU will be responsible for the betting
facility
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