Our Judges

Philip Bernie

Head of BBC TV Sport

Philip Bernie
Head of BBC TV Sport

Philip Bernie is the Head of BBC TV Sport – responsible for all TV Sport output on the BBC.

Philip joined the BBC in 1984 as a Production Trainee after leaving university. He became an Assistant Producer on Grandstand, later becoming Editor of Football Focus and then Match Of The Day. He has also been Assistant Editor and then Editor of Grandstand.

He was Editor of Sports Personality Of The Year from 1999 to 2005, during which time he won a Royal Television Society Award for the show.

He was Editor on the Olympic Games from 1992 to 2004, and on the Commonwealth Games from 1994 to 2002.

He was Editor of the World Cup in 1990 and 1994 as well as Euro 96, and was Executive Producer of the World Cup in 2002.

He was Editor of Wimbledon from 2003 to 2007 and founding Editor of both the BBC One series On Side and the BBC Two series Match Of The Day 2.

Prior to his current role, Philip was Head of Programmes and Planning in BBC TV Sport from 2005 to 2007 and then Head of TV Sport Editorial from 2007 to 2009.

Before joining TV Sport in 1987, Philip worked in various areas of the BBC including spending a year in Radio Sport and a year at the Breakfast Time TV programme.
Paul Blanchard

CEO - Commonwealth Games England

Paul Blanchard
CEO - Commonwealth Games England

Paul Blanchard is the Chief Executive of Commonwealth Games England, the organisation responsible for leading and managing the participation of Team England at the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games. The next Commonwealth Games in 2022 will be hosted in Birmingham.

With a career spanning more than 25 years in the sports industry, Paul has extensive experience of working for some of the country’s best known organisations, including the Scottish Premier League, the NFL, Southampton FC, Harlequins Rugby League and The Oval. Prior to joining Commonwealth Games England, Paul was the Chief Executive of the Surrey Sports Park, an elite training and event facility based at the University of Surrey. He was also Chair of Active Surrey, the county sports partnership.
Clare Briegal

CEO - International Netball Federation

Clare Briegal
CEO - International Netball Federation

Clare Briegal is Chief Executive Officer of the International Netball Federation (the International Governing Body for the sport of Netball). She was appointed in April 2014 and since then has driven the development and implementation of the Federation’s strategic plan. Clare is a strong believer in the power of netball to empower its participants, particularly women and girls. She, and her team at the Secretariat, work with the INF Member Associations to develop the sport internationally and grow its profile.

She leads the work of the Federation in relation to safeguarding and the protection of vulnerable adults and is on the Safeguarding Children in Sport Advisory Board.

Clare has a commercial background within the chemical industry and consumer durables sector. However, she has been actively involved in sport as an athlete, official and voluntary administrator since rowing at university. Clare is still competing as a master’s rower and is on the umpires’ panel for the Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race.

She was Deputy Chair and Non-Executive Director of Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS FT. Clare is a Governor of the Grange School Hartford, Cheshire and Chair of the Northwest Regional Rowing Council.

Clare has an MBA from Manchester Business School, an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and an MA in Biochemistry from Bryn Mawr College, USA.
Ben Calveley

Managing Director, British & Irish Lions

Ben Calveley
Managing Director, British & Irish Lions

Ben Calveley has been MD of Lions Rugby since November 2018 after serving 7 months as acting CEO of Six Nations Rugby and Lions Rugby on secondment from the RFU.
Prior to joining Lions Rugby, Calveley worked as Head of Strategy and Corporate Affairs for the RFU from June 2011 working on corporate strategy, policy, public affairs, international relations, project and risk management, fundraising and events.
He also worked for UK Sport from 2007 where he led a team advising all Olympic and Paralympic sports on how to increase their influence within the International Federations to which they affiliate. Calveley joined UK Sport from PMP, the sports consultancy, where he led the Football division and managed complex domestic and international sport projects involving multi-disciplinary teams including advising on how to develop grass root and elite sporting systems in a number of international markets.
Ben began professional life working in Merger and Acquisitions with Arthur Andersen and holds an MBA. He lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife and three young children.
Adrian Christy

Chief Executive, Table Tennis England

Adrian Christy
Chief Executive, Table Tennis England
Lawrence Dallaglio OBE

Former England Rugby Captain

Lawrence Dallaglio OBE
Former England Rugby Captain

Lawrence captained England and has 85 caps. He was with London Wasps from 1990 to his 2008 retirement. He now sits on the Board.

Since retiring from rugby he undertakes charity work with his own Dallaglio RugbyWorks; using rugby with teenagers excluded from mainstream education on a programme that aims to get them into sustained education, employment or training.

Development Director at Maistro, UK-based technology company and the world’s first digital procurement intermediary for services.

Director at Akuma Sports, a family-owned bespoke UK teamwear supplier, working on the overall company strategy and objectives.

Director at Elite FX, an established and trusted currency consultancy.

The leading rugby union expert for BT Sport and writes for The Sunday Times.

He was awarded an MBE (2004) and an OBE (2008).
Mark Davies

Chair, British Rowing

Mark Davies
Chair, British Rowing

Mark took up his role at British Rowing in April 2018 and was formerly Chair of Archery GB. He was also a Trustee of SportsAid and is currently an advisor to the Ruth Strauss Foundation
Niels de Vos

Executive Director World Athletics Championships Oregon 22

Niels de Vos
Executive Director World Athletics Championships Oregon 22

Niels has nearly twenty years experience in the Sports Business, stretching back to 1999 when he joined the Organising Committee of the Manchester Commonwealth Games as Commercial Director, responsible for ticketing, broadcast, marketing and the cultural festival. The huge success of 2002 is popularly seen as a watershed moment for the UK, leading to an unrivalled few decades of hosting many of the world’s biggest events, including London 2012.

After a stint as CEO of Premiership Rugby Club Sale Sharks, whom he guided to the Championship Trophy in 2006, Niels joined UK Athletics. In his ten years there he oversaw a dramatic upturn in the results of the GB team, including record medal performances in both Olympic and Paralympics, with the GB team now a regular top 5 performer on the global stage making it one of our most successful sports. Niels also instigated an aggressive plan to bid for, and run, international events as a means to drive revenue and awareness in the UK. Since 2007 UKA has hosted 2 European indoor championships, one world indoor championships, 2 world half marathons, the European team championships and, in 2017, the first ever joint hosting of the IAAF and IPC World Athletics Championships.

In Sept 2017 Niels left UKA to set up FABRIC GROUP Ltd – a specialist consultancy advising businesses, federations, cities and governments invest in their communities through sport, the arts and charity. He is currently retained by the Board of USA 2021 World Atheltics Championships to provide strategic planning advice and Board assurance.
Ronan Dunne

Chairman, Six Nations Rugby

Ronan Dunne
Chairman, Six Nations Rugby

Ronan Dunne is the independent Chairman of Six Nations Rugby. The Six Nations Board is the newly formed body overseeing the commercial and marketing operations for the Men’s, Women’s and Under-20 Six Nations championships as well as the Autumn Nations Series.The appointment follows the completion of CVC’s strategic investment into Six Nations Rugby.

With more than two decades of executive experience in the media, digital and data world, Dunne will provide strategic direction to Six Nations Rugby’s senior executive team, led by Chief Executive Officer Ben Morel.
Jon Dutton

Chief Executive - Rugby League World Cup 2021

Jon Dutton
Chief Executive - Rugby League World Cup 2021

Having led England’s successful bid to host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, Jon was appointed Chief Executive of the tournament; leaving his position as Rugby Football League Director of Projects and People.

A sports management graduate with over 20 years’ experience in the sports industry. Jon has previously worked for the PGA European Golf Tour, Manchester FA (with a secondment to UEFA) and ran his own sports consultancy company. Jon was the Operations Director for Rugby League World Cup 2013, Director of Readiness for the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014 and Tournament Director for the Ladbrokes Four Nations tournament in 2016. In 2017 Jon was the International Federation Tournament Commissioner for the Rugby League World Cup in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Jon is also a member of UK Sports Major Events Panel, a specialist advisory body. Its main purpose is to represent the interests of UK Sport by making major event investment recommendations to the UK Sport Board.
Jim Eyre

CEO, British Equestrian Federation

Jim Eyre
CEO, British Equestrian Federation
Victoria Gosling OBE

Chief Executive, GB Snowsport

Victoria Gosling OBE
Chief Executive, GB Snowsport

Victoria has had an outstanding career to date with many achievements, including being the Chief Executive Officer for Invictus Games 2016 in Orlando and the Military Project Lead for the first Invictus Games (London 2014), inspiring 14 nations and over 400 athletes to compete. She has completed 21 years’ service within the Royal Air Force culminating with the prestigious rank of Group Captain.

Victoria has served on numerous deployments around the world and prior to the inaugural Invictus Games she was the Base Support Commander for a Support Helicopter Base of 2000 personnel, which provided support to Operation Herrick, Afghanistan.

Victoria is a passionate sportswoman and dedicates most of her spare time promoting sport across various sectors. She is Chief Executive for GB Snowsport; Board member for the British Olympic Association; Chair and Custodian for the Rugby Centurions, Invictus Games Strategic Advisor for the UK Delegation Board; a Board Director and Chief Strategy Officer for a flourishing FinTech Business with a mission to provide financial inclusion and she recently joined Responsible Finance Board.

In addition, Victoria is a Newspaper Reviewer for the BBC and a motivational speaker for Inspiring Women. Victoria also made a critically acclaimed West End debut as the Narrator in the musical Girlfriends, which is set on an RAF Bomber Command base during World War 2.

Victoria was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2004 following her deployment on Operations and for her commitment to RAF Waddington, and she was also subsequently appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2014 for her commitment to RAF Benson and to adaptive sports.

She is a mother of 3 young children and enjoys most sports including playing tennis, golf and spending time with her family.
Hamish McInnes

CEO, British Shooting

Hamish McInnes
CEO, British Shooting

Hamish joined British Shooting in 2011 and is based in Ealing, West London.

As Chief Executive Officer he is the Accountable Officer for British Shooting and all its people and funding. He sees his role as helping to create the best possible environment for British Shooting athletes and staff to realise their potential in whatever way they contribute to our goals.

He enjoys seeing the hard work of athletes, coaches and staff come to fruition. He values spending time with the teams at training or competition and seeing what makes everyone tick.

Before joining British Shooting, he was head of the team that set up World Class Programme development when National Lottery funding started. Hamish has been a NED at World Snooker, England Lacrosse and Commonwealth Games England. He has been part of the Team England leadership team at 5 Commonwealth Games. He set up an independent sports consultancy and advised on London 2012 projects. He is a member of the FCO Olympics and Paralympics Legacy Team and Member of the NOC and NPC. Long long ago he was an international middle-distance runner.
Jane M Nickerson MBE

Chief Executive Officer, Swim England

Jane M Nickerson MBE
Chief Executive Officer, Swim England

Jane Nickerson has been CEO of Swim England since April 2017, providing leadership which is passionately focused on creating a society where everyone has the opportunity to learn how to swim, is supported to develop their skills, and is able to enjoy the water throughout their lifetime.

Jane has a deep understanding of the sport through the eyes of a swimmer and an administrator, from grassroots to elite level. As a youngster she swam competitively for City of Coventry and competed to national championship standard, whilst also taking an interest in the governance of the sport. One of her most treasured times, during the 1990s, was as an England and Great Britain swimming team manager.

Jane’s experience is a great asset to Swim England and provides her with the insight to successfully lead the organisation’s strategy which includes building new partnerships to increase awareness of the health benefits of swimming, encouraging everyone to enjoy the water and ensuring the development of talented athletes.

Jane feels fortunate to work in a sector that is based on fun and encourages all to embrace this in their day-to-day work. She joined Swim England in 1997 and, before her current role, held a range of senior management posts including Head of Administration, Director of Operations and Chief Operating Officer.

Jane graduated with B Ed majoring in History and English after studying Ethnography in France for 12 months. Outside of swimming, Jane is grounded by her voluntary work with the Samaritans and enjoys being active in a different volunteer-based organisation.

She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to swimming during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

It is Jane’s belief that with positive thinking directed in the ‘right’ direction, everything is possible.
Tammy Parlour MBE

CEO, Women's Sport Trust

Tammy Parlour MBE
CEO, Women's Sport Trust

Tammy Parlour MBE co-founded Women’s Sport Trust in 2012 and leads the organisation as CEO.

Tammy works with leaders from across sport, media and business to understand how to practically raise visibility, increase impact and create a stronger women’s sport ecosystem. She was awarded an MBE in the New Year 2019 Honours List for services to gender equality in sport.

Tammy is a Master in the Korean martial art of Hapkido, having practiced for 40 years. She set up her own Hapkido and meditation school in the early 90’s and still coaches regularly. Tammy holds an MSc in Strength & Conditioning, and post-graduate study into Applied Sport Psychology.

With an interest in women’s football, she also volunteers as a Board Director for AFC Wimbledon Ladies FC.
Andy Payne OBE

Chairman, British Esports Association

Andy Payne OBE
Chairman, British Esports Association
Keith Pelley

Chief Executive, DP World Tour

Keith Pelley
Chief Executive, DP World Tour

Canadian Keith Pelley became the fourth Chief Executive in the history of the European Tour on Monday August 3, 2015.

During his tenure, Keith has overseen a period of significant evolution and modernisation underlined by the Tour’s brand refresh, which uses the strapline Driving Golf Further, emphasising the Tour’s guiding principles of being innovative, inclusive and global. This has included the creation of award-winning content, pioneering formats such as GolfSixes and the Hero Challenge, and the use of the latest technology and inventive fan engagement, including the launch of golf’s first esports series, the European eTour. Keith has also overseen a closer collaboration with the women’s game, including co-sanctioned events such as the Scandinavia Mixed and Vic Open, and the introduction of the ground-breaking Golfers with Disability programme in conjunction with the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA), which he is a board member of.

In 2017, the European Tour introduced the transformational Rolex Series, the premium event category on the European Tour’s International Schedule, comprising four tournaments staged in a variety of world-class golfing locations around the world, each with a minimum prize fund of US$7 million. It has been described as one of the most important initiatives in the Tour’s history.

In November 2020, a Strategic Alliance was announced between the European Tour and the PGA TOUR, with the latter taking minority investment in European Tour Productions. The landmark agreement will see golf’s two major Tours explore all facets of collaboration, working together on strategic commercial opportunities including collaborating on global media rights in certain territories plus global scheduling, prize funds and playing opportunities for the respective memberships.

The European Tour also manages the developmental Challenge Tour and the Legends Tour, formerly the Senior Tour which secured Staysure as the first title partner in its history in 2018. It is also the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe the body which, alongside the PGA of America, administers golf’s greatest team contest, The Ryder Cup, with the 2018 edition at Le Golf National the most successful to be held on European soil.

Prior to joining The European Tour, Keith was President of Rogers Media in Toronto where he was responsible for leading the overall operations of the company’s diverse portfolio, including Television, Radio, Publishing, Digital Media, The Shopping Channel, subscription-based content services, Toronto Blue Jays, and Rogers Centre. Before that, he was Executive Vice-President of Strategic Planning at CTVglobemedia, President of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium – which won a record seven awards for its coverage of Vancouver 2010 – President and CEO of the Toronto Argonauts Football Club, and President of The Sports Network in Canada, a company he first joined as an Editorial Assistant in 1986.

He is a graduate of Ryerson University with a BA in Radio and Television Arts, and also received an ATCL diploma from Trinity College in London
Karen Pickering MBE

Commonwealth & World Champion Swimmer

Karen Pickering MBE
Commonwealth & World Champion Swimmer

During a 20 year international swimming career Karen won 35 major championship medals and 38 National titles despite breaking her back in a car accident in 1996. She was 4 times World champion, broke 2 World Records and competed at 4 consecutive Olympic Games.

Karen retired from competitive swimming in 2005 & as well as well as being the Swimming Development Officer at Ardingly College she now commentates for the BBC and is a non-Exec Director for Sport England.
Nick Pink

Chief Executive, England Hockey

Nick Pink
Chief Executive, England Hockey

Nick joined England Hockey as Chief Executive in November 2019, having held the same position with England Golf for the previous four years. Nick has a background in sports administration having worked for the International Cricket Council, UK Sport and the Youth Sport Trust.
Matthew Porter

CEO - Professional Darts Corporation

Matthew Porter
CEO - Professional Darts Corporation

Matthew Porter has been Chief Executive of the Professional Darts Corporation since January 2008, as well as a director of the PDC’s parent company, Matchroom Sport.

During that time, he has overseen the progress of the sport to unprecedented levels where it now pays out in excess of £14m prize money annually and has introduced a structure which provides a pathway from picking up a dart for the first time to being crowned World Champion, with the introduction of Development and Challenge Tours, as well as a World Series for elite players.

Porter was Chief Executive of Leyton Orient FC when the club was owned by Matchroom, as well as serving on the board of The Football League. In 2006 he was appointed as the youngest chief executive in English football by O’s chairman Barry Hearn, aged just 26. His appointment coincided with the Club’s promotion to League 1 and he oversaw their progression to an established side in the division which included narrowly missing out on promotion at the end of the 2013/14 season before the Club was sold.
Julie Porter

Chief Operating Officer, LTA

Julie Porter
Chief Operating Officer, LTA

As Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, Julie is one of the most senior and experienced female leaders in the country among sports governing bodies, in charge of a wide ranging remit covering Strategy & Innovation, Marketing & Commercial, Facilities, Coaching, Operations and Corporate Affairs.

Julie started her career in food retail on a graduate training scheme with Aldi Gmbh as they entered the UK market, before joining David Lloyd Leisure (DLL) to align her experience and management training with her passion for sport, health and fitness. She worked in various roles at DLL with responsibility across the UK and Europe, with one of her standout achievements being spearheading the company’s successful expansion into Spain.

Julie’s 15 years at DLL culminated leading a turnaround of business performance as Chief Operating Officer, before taking on the equivalent role at the LTA in May 2018 with the purpose of developing a more commercial and business led approach to strategy to drive the sport forward and get more people playing tennis.

The role provides the ideal platform for Julie to make a difference to a sport that she has been passionate about since first picking up a racket at the age of 10. Since joining the LTA, Julie has been a central figure in driving progress towards achieving the organisation’s vision of opening up tennis to many more people, and implementing its programme of work to grow the sport by making it relevant, accessible, welcoming and enjoyable to anyone who has an interest.
Sir Steve Redgrave CBE

Five Times Olympic gold Medalist
Sir Steve Redgrave CBE
Five Times Olympic gold Medalist
Five times Olympic gold Medalist in five successive Games – Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney, in the words of the former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch,

“Raises Sir Steve Redgrave to the highest rank of Olympic
participants.”

NINE World Championships gold medalist, TRIPLE Commonwealth Gold Medallist.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2000

Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award 2000

BBC’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011

Awarded 13 Honorary Doctorates from universities in the UK including Durham, Loughborough, Hull, St Andrew’s, Aberdeen and the University of London.

What makes his achievements more remarkable is that he won against a background of serious illnesses. He nearly missed the Atlanta Games due to colitis, for which he still receives treatment, and in 1997 he was diagnosed as diabetic, three years before winning his gold in Sydney.

Knighted in the New Year’s Honours List 2000, which accompanies his MBE in 1987 and his CBE in 1997.

In 2001 Sir Steve set-up his charity – The Steve Redgrave Trust, aimed at raising £5 million over five years for children’s charities. In April 2006 at the London Marathon, he broke the record for the most money raised by an individual, astaggering £1.8million and in doing so broke the £5 million target he set himself.

Sir Steve has published six books.
Andy Salmon

CEO, British Triathlon

Andy Salmon
CEO, British Triathlon
Andrew Scoular

Chief Executive, British Judo

Andrew Scoular
Chief Executive, British Judo
Sue Storey

Chief Executive, Volleyball England

Sue Storey
Chief Executive, Volleyball England

Judging Information

The Sports Business Awards will be judged independently by an esteemed panel who possess a wealth of knowledge and experience between them.
The scoring will all be conducted online, without any reference to other scorers and based solely on the submission of the entrant. This will ensure the scores are unbiased and judges are not swayed by the opinions of other panel members.
Each entry will be scored by at least 4 judges in total. The organisers will collate the individual scores and use the average marks given to initially decide the finalists and ultimately to determine the award winners.
Where the average scores are so close that it is too difficult to determine a winner, then other judges will be asked to evaluate these entries as well in order to make a final decision.
The information provided to judges will be used solely for the purposes of assessing the entries. Potentially sensitive information will not be made public.
Judges will absent themselves from any discussions where they have a vested interest.
The judges’ decision is final, no correspondence will be entered into and no reasons given for decisions.
The shortlisted entrants will be announced in September 2022.
If you need help with your entry or require any clarification, please contact Katy on katy@r3events.co.uk.

Our Judges

Philip Bernie

Paul Blanchard

Clare Briegal

Ben Calveley

Adrian Christy

Lawrence Dallaglio OBE

Mark Davies

Niels de Vos

Ronan Dunne

Jon Dutton

Jim Eyre

Victoria Gosling OBE

Hamish McInnes

Jane M Nickerson MBE

Tammy Parlour MBE

Andy Payne OBE

Keith Pelley

Karen Pickering MBE

Nick Pink

Matthew Porter

Julie Porter

Sir Steve Redgrave CBE

Andy Salmon

Andrew Scoular

Sue Storey

Judging Information

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES