What was the first major outdoor event you attended , and did it encourage you to work in events ? It was a Six Nations rugby match at Twickenham with my dad . I didn ’ t think I would end up working in events but I ’ ll never forget the unbelievable buzz of being in that crowd and that remarkable atmosphere .

What was your first step into the industry ? My career has always followed a thread of doing things I love because I just could not imagine throwing myself into something I wasn ’ t 100 % interested in . I started out doing sport and exercise science at university . As a child I did modern pentathlon and because of that I ended up volunteering in my summer university breaks at the Pentathlon World Championships in Somerset . They asked if I could help with the medal ceremonies that were to be broadcast on TV . I absolutely loved it . From there , I was given the opportunity to volunteer at the London 2012 Olympics working for

the pentathlon team in athlete services . That launched my career .

What was your path to the current role ? I started working at Dunsfold Park in Surrey on an event called Wings & Wheels . We had a meeting with the team at Goodwood during the middle of the Festival of Speed build . They were building this huge international event and I remember being there with the team and just thinking , “ Oh my goodness , this is just the most amazing thing , I have to be part of it ”. I kept an eye on the Goodwood website and eventually got an interview for an eventplanning position , working on the Festival of Speed and the Revival . The opportunity came up for assistant operations manager at the racecourse and so I moved up there and then very quickly moved into the operations manager role where I was for five years . After maternity leave , I came back into the role of general manager at Revival .

What has been the most extraordinary day in your career at Goodwood ? As an event manager you tend to remember the worst experiences mainly because they ’ re the ones you learn most from . We certainly had some extreme weatherrelated challenges with the racecourse being on the very top of the South Downs , but the most extraordinary day was the Friday

of the Qatar Goodwood Festival in 2020 . We had been given the go-ahead two weeks prior to run the first pilot event in the UK . We had been working solidly on it for two weeks , changing almost every aspect of the venue in order to be able to follow social distancing guidelines , only to be told with less than 24 hours to go that the whole thing had been cancelled . It was the event of all events that we never actually got to deliver . I ’ m very , very , proud of what we put in to deliver that event . I have no doubt it was going to be amazing , and we were only 24 hours away from making it a reality .

What excites you most about this year ’ s Goodwood Revival ? It ’ s great to be back with the original team I started with at Goodwood . That , and all the amazing set-dressed spaces , the visitor experiences , that we are bringing to life . There are some interesting builds that are happening this year , which I am sure will surprise and delight customers .

Given the choice , would you prefer a racehorse or vintage car ? I would go with the car – funnily enough , I think they ’ re less dangerous than the horses .

If you could change one thing about the events industry , what would it be ? More budget , more time and more sunshine .