When did you start working for Weatherbys and what was it that drew you to the company originally?

I started at Weatherbys in 1994 thanks to a general love of the Thoroughbred horse. I realised the advantages of working in a company that has many areas of the Thoroughbred industry in one building, and it was preferable to mucking out stables on a freezing cold morning! I started in the Racing Services department, before shifting over to Bloodstock Services (known back then as Eclipse Pedigrees) after 18 months – and I’ve not looked back since!

Being able to work, day in day out, with many of the major operations in the industry, with all the exciting horses they deal with, is quite rewarding.

How would you describe the company culture and values?

Weatherbys has always been a company that has aimed for high customer service, and a benefit of that is being able to build up some long-lasting relationships with some excellent clients. We were in discussions with one of the world’s most successful owner-breeder operations and they stated that working with Weatherbys was more like a partnership.

What’s your proudest achievement or moment in your time at Weatherbys?

This is an easy one! At the Friday of Royal Ascot In 2012, with Sir Johnny Weatherby being Her Majesty’s Ascot representative at the time, I was asked to present the late Queen with a Private Stud Book of all her horses that we had produced to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee.

We were able to talk about her horses with Her Majesty for 10 minutes which was an honour and a privilege. The day was topped off when Estimate won the Queens Vase. Of course, she came back the next year and famously won the Gold Cup.

What is one thing people may not know about your role and one thing people may not know about Weatherbys?

The variety of the work and services that we can offer in the Bloodstock team is probably the biggest one for me. When I have chatted with visitors on tours around Weatherbys they nearly all express surprise at the many different departments we have - many customers deal with Weatherbys for one or two aspects of their racing life but then find we can offer a wide range of services. I’ve been here for a long time and had a variety of tasks, from the early days of producing sales catalogue pedigrees and clients Private Stud Books, to managing the production of the Stallion Book and data systems.

How has Weatherbys changed from your first day to now?

Life is very different now compared to 1994! The Weatherbys principle is still there, to try and go the extra yard for the client and aim for high standards across the board, and the Weatherbys brand is still very important. In the workplace, technology has made a big difference - we have websites, apps, API’s, new Bloodstock databases, new Racing systems and new Stud Book systems, so there is a lot going on.