Rachel Corden announces her retirement

After approaching five years as ARC Greyhound Operations Director, Rachel Corden has
announced her decision to retire.

In a career lifetime which has spanned family ownership of the Nottingham Greyhound Stadium
and over 15 years’ board-level involvement on the RCPA, GBGB and BGRF, Rachel will step down
from all her positions in the sport in November.

Under her leadership at ARC, its five stadia have each grown into flagships for the sport with
welfare and sporting enjoyment at the heart of everything they do.

Announcing her decision to retire Rachel said:

“Over my career in the sport I have been fortunate to work with some outstanding individuals,
not least the dedicated teams at ARC’s stadia, stadia vets, homing partners trainers and owners.
This is a sport that I was born into, grew up with and now I have decided that it is time for my
family and my other interests to take centre stage. The timing to step down is right for me but
also right for our stadia as we have just finalised all the plans for the move of our Perry Barr
operation to Wolverhampton, which will happen in September 2025, ahead of the Landlord
requiring the return of the Perry Barr site.

“The ARC stadia are in a strong position for the future. I’d like to express my thanks to Mark
Spincer and Mark Kingston for their support and to my friends and colleagues across the
sport. Likewise in stepping down from my roles in the GBGB, RCPA and BGRF, I know that each
has organisation has canine welfare at the centre of its strategy and focus. This sport is all about
the greyhounds themselves; we are all privileged to work with our canine athletes and I am
gratified, with the significant progress made in ensuring that the greyhounds come first and I
know that the teams at the ARC stadia will always have greyhound welfare at the heart of their
operations.

“I have many extremely fond memories in the sport, not least fulfilling a dream of my father,
Terry, of holding the Greyhound Derby at Nottingham. The amount of travel, meetings and
commitment to the sport, however, takes its toll and I know that now is the right time for me to
let others take the reins”.

Mark Spincer, ARC’s Managing Director of its Racing Division said:

“We are very sorry that Rachel has decided to retire and know this is a decision she hasn’t come
to lightly. But she leaves having achieved so much across our five stadia and we will always be
extremely grateful to her for her work in leading our Greyhound team and in placing our tracks at
the centre of the sport. I know that I speak for all our stakeholders when I say that she will be
massively missed as someone who has always stood up both for the sport and for them in
everything she has done. Managing so many stakeholders is not easy and she has done so with
consideration, empathy and commitment driven by her lifetime in the sport”.

Jeremy Cooper, Chair of GBGB said:

“Rachel has been a brilliant Director of GBGB and has worked tirelessly in taking forward the
sport. In our decision-making, she has always seen the perspectives of everyone involved and, as
someone deeply embedded in greyhound racing, she has been a proper champion for the sport.
We will all miss her input and professionalism. Some in the sport talk about the need for more
‘greyhound people’ to be involved. Rachel is without doubt one of the true ‘greyhound people’
and we will miss her dedication and expertise. On behalf of GBGB I would like to thank her for
everything she has done as a Director and for working so hard as we have professionalised the
sport and put canine welfare at its heart. In particular, amongst many achievements, she was the
key driver for the creation of the Greyhound Retirement Scheme which has proved to be so
successful across the sport. She was likewise key to the organisation of the emergency funding
we provided during Covid and the Covid operational policy. Her legacy is tremendous and few
will truly understand just how much she has done in the interests of the sport over her
career. We will miss her both as a professional and as a friend”.