British Racing joins GREAT Campaign
British racing has been incorporated into the UK Government’s GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland campaign, showcasing the best of the UK all around the world.
The new racing imagery was launched via The Jockey Club on the big screens and in the racecard at the Cazoo Derby Festival, which featured as a key event of Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend.
The imagery is now available to UK Government departments and its international network, including Embassies and High Commissions, for use on trade missions, at receptions and conferences.
Efforts to ensure British racing’s inclusion in this important national campaign have been led on behalf of the industry by a partnership of organisations: Great British Racing International (GBRI), the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), UK Tote Group and Ascot Racecourse.
GREAT’s inclusion of British racing represents a significant step forward for the promotion of the industry on the international stage.
Minty Farquhar, General Manager of GBRI, said: “British racing joining the GREAT campaign presents an exciting opportunity for the industry to communicate its world-leading credentials more effectively in over 145 countries. The vibrant imagery, which is now available for Embassies and High Commissions worldwide to use at events and across digital channels, can play an important role in encouraging more international investors to buy, own, race and breed in Britain.
“It has been a long-standing objective for GBRI to secure inclusion of racing in the GREAT campaign, and it is fantastic that, alongside colleagues at the BHA, UK Tote Group, Ascot Racecourse and The Jockey Club, and with the help of the team at GREAT, we have successfully brought this vision to life.”
The development also represents recognition from Government of the cultural, societal and economic importance of British racing to the UK - and the role it can play as a soft power asset for the country internationally. Indeed, it follows on from the publication of a Henham Strategy report titled ‘British Horseracing’s International Influence’, commissioned by the BHA, Ascot Racecourse and GBRI in 2019, which specifically called for inclusion of British racing in the GREAT campaign.
Ross Hamilton, Head of Public Affairs at the British Horseracing Authority, added: “The BHA and our partner organisations are delighted to see this new imagery, showcasing the brilliance, diversity and international appeal of British racing, included as part of the GREAT campaign. This is an important demonstration of how the UK Government can work with British racing as a soft power asset for the UK, while supporting our industry’s ambition to grow our international leadership position in the global thoroughbred industry. We continue this work daily across a range of Government departments and industry objectives.”