BHA accounts show income holding up but full launch of Racing Digital is delayed until March

Income from owners beat expectations and helped offset the increased cost of work on industry strategy last year, according to the BHA's accounts for 2023 which were lodged with Companies House this week.

British racing's governing body also continues to invest in Racing Digital, the joint venture with Weatherbys set up to overhaul the industry's IT and administration, with £1.9 million spent on the project last year. However, its full launch, which had been due to take place last month, has been delayed until March although is is hoped a first phase will be in operation later this year.

The BHA made a pre-tax profit of £800,000 in 2023, with income of £39.9m and costs of £39.1m.

BHA group financial controller Paul Foster said: "While we make profits and losses in individual years our aim is to operate break even over the medium term; 2023 was probably better than expected from an income perspective because activity levels held up better than we had planned and that allowed us to invest more in people and activities, principally to support the wider industry strategy.

"We've spent more but we've only spent more because we've had better income levels than anticipated. We would see it all as an investment in the future of the sport. The delay in Racing Digital is unhelpful but it is a big IT project and big IT projects are generally difficult to estimate how long they take."

The majority of the BHA's income is provided by fees paid by racecourses and owners, which the BHA increased by eight per cent in 2023, of which three per cent was to support delivery of industry strategy. Racecourses paid £25.7m, while owners contributed £9m.

Foster said: "Both went up by nine per cent, very slightly more than what the fees went up by, indicating a slight increase in activity."

The BHA's people costs, including wage inflation and increased headcount, rose by 16.8 per cent year-on-year to £20.7m, although activity costs fell by 1.7 per cent to £18.4m thanks to the move to a smaller head office and the use of inflation caps in contracts.

Foster said: "It's very important that we are open and transparent about where the money is going because ultimately it is money we are levying people through licence fees, entry fees, registration fees and regulatory charges to racecourses."

BHA chief executive Julie Harrington was paid £370,000 in 2023Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

The accounts also showed that chief executive Julie Harrington, who has announced she is set to step down at the end of this year, received £370,000 in her third year in the role, up from £327,000 in 2022.

The Racing Digital joint venture was started in July 2021 with the initial aim of a three-year build period for the new systems and then a seven-year operating period. 

Foster said: "It's going fine, it is just taking longer than was planned. There will be a small additional cost in 2024 as a result. It just really delays making some of the savings that were planned in the contract but it's not significant in the grand scheme of the project."

The BHA ended the year with £3.6m in the bank and Foster added: "For a £40-odd million pound business [that] is not a lot of money.

"We have about four weeks operating costs. I think it's really important for people to realise we are not building up enormous cash reserves, we are using the reserves for the good of the sport. We just need to keep enough to be prudent and sensible in case something happens. We wouldn't be doing our duty if we didn't."

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