Joe Saumarez Smith appointed to BHA board

Bede Gaming chairman Joe Saumarez Smith has today been named as one of six new non-executive directors of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) in what has been described as a “new chapter” for the industry body.

Saumarez Smith joins the board following an “extensive” search process led by Sports Recruitment International, with two more directors set to be hired by the BHA’s member organisations in the near future.

Saumarez Smith is currently CEO of Sports Gaming Limited, a gaming management consultancy firm he founded in 2001, and chairman of gaming software supplier Bede Gaming.

“I’m delighted to be appointed to the BHA board as I’ve been a horseracing fanatic for years,” Saumarez Smith told eGaming Review this morning.

“I look forward to helping with the regulation of the industry and hope to add a lot of expertise I’ve gained from my business ventures,” he added.

His appointment follows the news that Ladbrokes’s retail director Nick Rust is to leave the bookmaker to become chief executive of the BHA early next year.

Rust will replace Paul Bittar who announced in August his intention to stand down from the role two years after joining the BHA from Australia’s Racing Victoria.

“This is the start of a new chapter for the BHA Board and the next step in its evolution as a governing and regulatory body,” Steve Harman, BHA chairman, said.

“As seen in our recent chief executive appointment process, this board recruitment attracted some amazingly talented people, and many of those who were not successful have promised to help Racing in other ways over the coming months and years,” he added.

Former Tote board member Noel Harwerth was also appointed a non-executive director along with racehorse owner and businessman Eamonn Wilmott and Northern Racing operations director Julie Harrington.

Atholl Duncan, a former BBC Scotland news director, and ex-John Lewis board member Laura Whyte completed the sextet of new non-executive directors.