Duncan named BHA chairman
● Board member ‘honoured’ to take on interim position
Former BBC Scotland news chief Atholl Duncan has been appointed as interim chairman of the British Horseracing Authority, which runs the sport across the UK.
An experienced non-executive director in sports organisations as well as a racehorse owner, he will play a leading role in developing the industry which is worth more than £3.5 billion to the UK economy and supports more than 85,000 jobs.
BHA board member Duncan, who will step up to the post on 12 November, said: “It is a great honour for me to be appointed as Chair of the BHA. My immediate focus will be to continue to work closely with everyone across horseracing to shape the right improvements we need to meet the many challenges facing our industry.
“I also look forward to supporting and constructively challenging the BHA Executive
and the highly dedicated teams across the country who we rely on every day to ensure the smooth running, integrity and welfare of racing.”
During a long and varied careeer, Duncan was a nonexecutive director of Sportscotland for nine years and has been a non executive director of the Scottish Sports Council Trust and the Hibernian Football Club Community Foundation. He has been a regular racegoer for nearly 40 years; is a Trustee of the Caledonian Racing Society; has been an owner in several syndicates; and has horses in training with Lucinda Russell who trained 2017 Grand National winner One for Arthur.
In addition, he was a senior executive at the BBC for many years and held the post of Head and News and Current Affairs at BBC Scotland from 2006 to 2011. Duncan also spent four years as Director of Corporate Affairs with Scottish Water and, since 2011 was Executive Director of ICAS, the professional body of Chartered Accountants.
His appointment is on an interim basis while the BHA and its members continue to discuss the make-up of the board and the remit of the chairman.