Staff

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Jim Eyre

Jim joined equestrian sport from the elite world of rugby, where he spent over five years with Premiership team Harlequins FC, initially as Commercial Operations Director before promotion to Chief Operating Officer, a position he held for three years. Prior to joining Harlequins, Jim spent 25 years in the military, in a variety of roles including Squadron Leader of the Blues and Royals Mounted Squadron and Commanding Officer of The Household Cavalry Regiment.

Lucy Jones

Lucy provides administrative assistance to the Chair and CEO, Board and Board sub-committees. 

Chief Executive's Office

Lynne Bailey

T 02475 313 445
E lynne.bailey@bef.co.uk

Jenalynn Ancliff

Jenalynn provides support for the FEI disciplines, working in collaboration with them to manage the regulatory and administrative activities of the FEI. This includes all FEI matters, Permitted Treating Veterinarian and Permitted Equine Therapist applications, courses, certificates of capability, calendar matters, invitations and competition schedules.  She also coordinates the National Federation’s response on FEI Rules revision and provides assistance in ensuring British Equestrian meets its governance obligations and assists with British Equestrian Appeals and BEFAR Hearings. She also leads on the delivery of British Equestrian’s passport functions, manages our IT systems and supports the Equine Infectious Disease Advisory Group.

T 02475 313 434
E jen.ancliff@bef.co.uk

Melissa Kinrade

Melissa’s role is to engage with staff on HR and Health & Safety matters. Melissa is the main point of contact for recruitment within the BEF.

T 02475 313 426
E melissa.kinrade@bef.co.uk

Felicity Towers

Felicity is the point of contact for Para Classification for Dressage and Driving on a national and international level, and leads the administration in this area. She works closely with the Member Bodies to deliver this service to the Athletes on their behalf.

T 02475 313 440
E felicity.towers@bef.co.uk

Abbey Fearn 

Abbey processes all FEI international passport and national passport operations.

T 02475 313 431
E abbey.fearn@bef.co.uk

Helen Brown

Helen is the main contact for all areas of equestrian safeguarding. She works with Member Bodies to share safeguarding best-practice from across the industry, as well as providing them with access to specialist advice and assistance when they need it.

Governance & Legal
T 02475 313 437
E safeguarding@bef.co.uk

Keith Oddy

After spending 30 years as a police officer dealing predominantly with child protection cases, Keith now provides advice and investigative services to a number of National Governing Bodies for Sport, including chairing Case Management Groups.

Governance & Legal
T 02475 313 437
E safeguarding@bef.co.uk

Sandra Hill

Governance & Legal
T 02475 313 438
E sandra.hill@bef.co.uk

Richard Waygood MBE

Alongside his role as Eventing Performance Manager, Richard oversees the Performance aspect of the World Class Programme in his role as Performance Director. 

World Class Team
 

Helen Nicholls

Helen is responsible for the Equestrian and Para Equestrian World class Programmes. Leading the strategy for Paris 2024 and beyond. Having previously held roles at British Sailing, UK Sport and Boccia UK, Helen joined the BEF in May 2022 and works closely with the Technical Director Richard Waygood and the discipline Programme Managers to support continued success on the international stage for our riders and owners.

World Class Team
T 02475 313 436
E helen.nicholls@bef.co.uk

Caroline Griffith

Caroline acts as the Team Manager and Chef d’Equipe of the Dressage Team at Championship level, and co-ordinates the implementation and development of systems across the Podium and Podium Potential Dressage programmes in support of continued medal success.

World Class Team
T 02475 313 436
E caroline.griffith@bef.co.uk

Georgina Sharples

Georgina acts as the Team Manager and Chef d’Equipe of the Para Dressage Team at Championship level, and co-ordinates the implementation and development of systems across the Podium programme in support of continued medal success.

World Class Team
T 02475 313 436
E georgina.sharples@bef.co.uk

Sophie Thomas

Sophie's responsibilities cover operations and logistics for the British team and World Class Programme activity. She has travelled as part of the “team behind the team” to three Olympic Games, one Paralympic Games and five World Equestrian Games.

World Class Team
T 02475 313 439
E sophie.thomas@bef.co.uk

Helen Shaw

Helen assists with the operations and logistics planning for the World Class Programme and British championship teams.

World Class Team
T 02475 313 439
E helen.shaw@bef.co.uk

David Hamer

David coordinates the implementation of the strategy and technical framework for Olympic and Paralympic athlete and coach development to ensure the supply and support needed for continued medal success at Senior Championship level.

World Class Team
T 02475 313 439
E david.hamer@bef.co.uk

Georgie Allen

Georgie joined the World Class Programme team in 2015. She supports the delivery of the World Class and national programmes – spanning Podium Potential, Podium Potential Pathway, Young Professionals, Youth Pathway Coaching Programme and the Para-Dressage Entry Programme.

Co-ordinating and supporting training days and squad sessions, Georgie also supports the Head of Performance Pathways, David Hamer, and works closely with the discipline coordinators (across Podium Potential), discipline mentor coaches (for Podium Potential Pathway) and in conjunction with the Olympic member bodies, to best support athletes and staff across the UK Sport and Sport England funded programmes.

World Class Team
T 02475 313 439
E georgie.allen@bef.co.uk

Mandana Mehran Pour

Mandana was previously Participation Manager for the Lawn Tennis Association for over four years. The role led on the strategic direction of tennis development in London, focusing on unlocking relationships with senior executives within Local Authorities and political leaders to help them manage their tennis assets in parks more effectively. Previously, she worked for London Sport, where she gained valuable knowledge of working with a range of sporting National Governing Bodies, local authorities and a wide range of community sport organisations. She’s also a Board of Trustee member for Access Sport, a charity which strives to give more children, particularly those in disadvantaged areas, access to a wide range of quality local sport.

Participation Team
E participation@bef.co.uk

PARTICIPATION OFFICER

David Padgen

David is responsible for sport development in relation to coaching, facilities and funding. He's the point of contact working with our Member Bodies on local and regional activities in the eastern portion of England.

Participation Team
T 02475 313 442
E david.padgen@bef.co.uk

STRATEGIC LEAD- RELATIONSHIPS

Adam Hughes

Adam is responsible for the relationship management with the Member Bodies, assisting in their strategic direction and linking with local, regional, and national stakeholders to increase participation in Equestrian activities.

He was previously the National Education Manager for the Rugby Football League for over five years. The role led on the strategic direction of rugby league with education settings, focusing on unlocking relationships with key stakeholders increasing participation through the diversification of projects and programmes. Adam is also a Trustee for The Eagles Foundation, a charity which strives to give more people across the Sheffield City Region a high-quality experience and introduction to sport, in particular Rugby League.

Participation Team
T 02475 313 444
E adam.hughes@bef.co.uk

DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT ADMINISTRATOR

Amy Dobbins

Amy is the central point of contact for British Equestrian Participation Team and leads in the administration and supports the wider Participation Team’. She is passionate about getting more people participating in sport regardless of their ability and is currently player and coach for Birmingham Moseley Rugby Women’s Team.

Participation Team
T 02475 313 444
E amy.dobbins@bef.co.uk

STRATEGIC LEAD- PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES

Samantha Holgate-Davey

Sam is responsible for leading the planning and delivery of strategic projects that encourage and support the sustainable growth of the industry to ensure a thriving and increasingly diverse and inclusive sport.

She previously worked within the arts and cultural sector, delivering strategic policies, projects and programmes that focused on providing opportunities to increase participation for underrepresented and underserved communities. A keen equestrian, Sam has worked within the industry and is passionate about ensuring that equestrianism is inclusive and accessible.

Participation Team
T 07506 760657
E Samantha.Holgate-Davey@bef.co.uk

INSIGHT AND RESEARCH MANAGER

Abbie Bevan

Abbie is responsible for managing and delivering insights and research to support the development and growth of equestrian sport through data-led decision making.

Abbie previously worked at the Office for National Statistics working with data and researchers to track the impact of government data. She has also previously worked in the equestrian industry and continues to actively participate in equestrian sport.

Participation Team
T 07506 760657
E Abigail.Bevan@bef.co.uk

Winnie Murphy

Winnie oversees communications between British Equestrian and its Member Bodies, as well as with external media and stakeholders.

T 02475 313 441
M 07809 826842 (emergencies)
E winnie.murphy@bef.co.uk

COMMUNICATIONS, DIGITAL AND DESIGN OFFICER

Rachel Dyke

Rachel joined British Equestrian in 2019 after three years working in equestrian journalism. She supports Winnie in all areas of communications, with a particular focus on social and digital media, content creation, athlete-focused projects and graphic design. She leads British Equestrian’s championship and event coverage on social media and has been a media officer for senior championship teams at European, World and Paralympic level, in addition to working with other sports at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and Krakow European Games 2023.

T 02475 313 441
E rachel.dyke@bef.co.uk

Josie Richards

Josie provides assistance to the communications team with social media, press releases and website updates, as well as working with the participation team to promote their work.

She joins the BEF with a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science and an MSc in Equine Science.

T 02475 313 441
E josie.richards@bef.co.uk

Stephen Jordan

Stephen oversees day-to-day finance function, ensuring that all grants are expended in accordance with the award agreements.

Finance Team
T 02475 313435
E stephen.jordan@bef.co.uk

Nancy York

Nancy supports the finance manager, assisting with the organisation's purchase ledger and more general finance functions across the BEF.

T 02475 313 431
E nancy.york@bef.co.uk