Jockey Club chief accused of bullying senior board member
The woman hired to modernise the Jockey Club is at the centre of a bullying row less than a year after becoming the head of the 270-year-old organisation.
Delia Bushell, a top executive with a background in the sports media industry, has had an official complaint made against her.
The undisclosed accusation has reportedly been made by a ‘senior member of the executive board’ and a barrister has been brought in to run an inquiry.
Miss Bushell, 48, who joined as chief executive last September, is awaiting a report that will be considered by the board. It comes at a time when the body is facing a £75million loss in revenue this year due to the pandemic.
The complaint has prompted speculation of a culture clash with the Jockey Club’s old guard. An ‘ outsider’ to the sport, Miss Bushell is now one of the most powerful figures in British racing but is said to have ‘ruffled feathers’ in her approach to the job.
She is married with three daughters and is said to be ‘passionate about encouraging female participation in sport’. Before joining the club, she spent three years at BT as managing director of its £1billion TV and sport division. Before that she spent 14 years as an executive in various roles with Sky.
She has made it clear she wants to bring a more commercial edge to the racing body and plans to shake up the way it is run by diversifying and broadening revenue streams while cutting costs.
Speaking about the club in March, she said: ‘ Because it has been so large and so successful for so long, it probably felt that it hasn’t needed to draw a broader and more diverse audience.’
The Jockey Club owns 15 racecourses including Aintree, which hosts the Grand National, and epsom Downs, home of the Derby. The club made operating profits of £48million in 2018, all of which is ploughed back into the sport.
The club, whose patron is the Queen, has a board of directors known as stewards and they will decide what action to take over the bullying claims.
Sandy Dudgeon, a former amateur jockey, became chairman last year. Another steward is Baroness harding, who is leading the NhS test and trace operation. She was also an amateur jockey.
TV presenter Clare Balding, who sits on the epsom Downs committee, praised Miss Bushell’s professionalism. She told the Sunday Times: ‘She’s doing a very difficult job and it’s not going to be popular with everyone, especially people whose jobs are under threat.’
The £4billion industry usually attracts more than five million racegoers annually and supports 17,000 jobs. But the impact of the lockdown and restarting racing behind closed doors has added to the club’s problems.
There have also been reports of a souring of relations with ITV since Miss Bushell took over.
In May she quit as director of Racecourse Media Group, which handles TV rights negotiations on behalf of venue owners. Following her resignation, ITV agreed a £20million a year deal to broadcast racing until 2023.
Miss Bushell is also a non-executive director of the england and Wales Cricket Board and sits on the advisory board of the Telegraph Media Group. When she was appointed head of the Jockey Club last year, Mr Dudgeon said he was confident the club would go from ‘strength to strength’ under Miss Bushell’s leadership.
The Jockey Club has a history of sexism battles. It did not allow women to train horses under licence until 1966 when it was taken to court. And it did not allow women to ride until 1972.
A Jockey Club spokesman said: ‘We have a full, independent and fair process for reviewing matters of this kind. This process is ongoing and it would not be appropriate to make any further comment.’
‘She ruffled feathers’