Fast-growing Racingbreaks.com secures £1.3m new investment
Racingbreaks.com, Europe’s largest horseracing travel business, has enjoyed an excellent start to 2022 offering worldwide racing packages and has recently secured an additional £1.3 million in investment for future growth. The online platform organises all elements of a day’s racing to ensure a stress-free and enjoyable experience for racegoers and over 5,000 travel-related packages were booked for the 2022 Cheltenham Festival and 500 customers were in Dubai for the 2022 Dubai World Cup.
The leading specialist racing travel business has welcomed a substantial investment of £1.3 million to grow the platform and take advantage of new opportunities and pent-up demand for live events presented by the pandemic. The lead investor in the round, Steve Parkin of Clipper Logistics, is a great supporter of British racing with over 150 horses in training, including a Royal Ascot winner on Wednesday when Dramatised won the Queen Mary.
There are some notable names that have joined as investors that include leading Flat jockey and former champion Jim Crowley, three-time Champion Flat jockey Oisin Murphy, professional golfer and racing enthusiast Lee Westwood, along with a host of smart money investors from finance and tech as well as leading owners responsible for over 1,000 horses in training in the UK.
Several investors will sit on the Racingbreaks.com board alongside new members Richard FitzGerald, previous Chief Executive of Racecourse Media Group (RMG), and John Wales, founder and former CEO of the UK’s largest independent musical ticketing package company, Encore.
Managing Director of Racingbreaks.com Aaron Taylor said:
“We are delighted to welcome Richard FitzGerald and John Wales as new board members. As one of horse racing’s most significant media figures, Richard brings a wealth of knowledge of the industry and will help to grow Racingbreaks.com commercially and strengthen our industry relationships in the sport both domestically and overseas. John’s understanding of the tourism industry and specifically growing an online experience business will be invaluable. I look forward to working alongside them both.”
The significant investment sum will be used to develop the brand and improve its visibility, whilst establishing new travel and hospitality experiences domestically as well as around the globe. The investment will enable Racingbreaks.com to develop their app, as well as improving its tech stack further to refine and enhance its user experience.
Frankie Dettori, joint founder and brand ambassador for Racingbreaks.com said:
“This is a very exciting time for me and Racingbreaks.com, we want to showcase the very best that racing has to offer across the globe and inspire more people from all backgrounds to experience the sport that we love. Through this investment I hope Racingbreaks is able to improve inclusion and diversity and grow the overall sport.”
Ross Marshall Co-Founder and Non-Executive Chairman said:
“After a challenging couple of years for the industry, we are hugely optimistic about the outlook and building on the company’s previous successes. We are delighted to strengthen our board and add some highly influential investors, who are passionate about racing and travel. We look forward to scaling Racingbreaks.com to new heights, growing racing participation and launching new exciting products in 2022 with our valuable partners.”