Julie Coates-Walker has been appointed as Group Head of Sales for conferences, events, and hospitality at Arena Racing Company (ARC), the UK’s largest racecourse group, which comprises 21 venues, including 16 horse racing venues.
Julie brings with her a breadth of knowledge, with more than 25 years’ experience in the hospitality and events industry and with recent senior roles at Levy Restaurants, ExCeL London, and Lime Venue Portfolio, part of the Compass Group.
Julie is also a regular within industry communities, including ICCA UK&I, ABPCO, the mia, MPI, and beam.
In the new role, Julie will oversee indoor and outdoor experiences, conferences, exhibitions, and hospitality sales, bolstering ARC’s events and hospitality brand, YourVenue. She will also establish and maximise a line-up of new strategic industry partnerships with major industry agencies and associations, including agiito, Calder, The Meetings Industry Association (mia), Venues of Excellence, and Green Tourism.
ARC will also launch a series of campaigns highlighting the wide range of outdoor spaces and experiences available at the venues. The aim is to encourage event planners to embrace outdoor experiences, connect with nature, and discover each ARC venue’s rich heritage and history.
Julie Coates-Walker, Group Head of Sales at ARC, commented: “ARC is on a drive to work collaboratively with event organisers to provide exciting environments for businesses to host clients, hold impactful meetings and conferences, and enjoy an array of exciting live events and festivals. I am excited to lead on this and will implement a wide range of exciting initiatives to drive business success this year and beyond.”
