British Cycling is pleased to announce that Tabitha Rendall and Julie Watts have joined the organisation’s Board of Directors, following their election at last weekend’s AGM in Manchester, while Sharon Bridgland-Gough has also joined the Board as an independent non-executive director.

Rendall and Watts replace the departing Dr George Gilbert and Wendy Cull, and Bridgland-Gough fills the vacancy on the Board for a fourth independent non-executive director.   This means that – for the first time in the organisation’s history – a majority of the organisation’s Board are now women.

Each of the new members brings with them a wealth of knowledge and experience: Tabitha Rendall as Chair of British Cycling’s South East Regional Board and Chair of the BMX Commission, and Julie Watts as Chair of the Eastern Regional Board.

Sharon Bridgland-Gough has held a number of senior HR roles within global and national organisations, with her past posts including Chief People Officer at Nuffield Health and Chief Human Resources Officer at Cardtronics PLC, the world’s largest independent ATM business.

Reacting to the appointments, British Cycling Chair Frank Slevin said:

“Our sport is not alone in the challenge it faces to get more women and people from diverse backgrounds into positions of leadership, which is why I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Tabitha, Julie and Sharon onto the Board of Directors.

“Through their in-depth knowledge of our sport, administrative experience gained in other sectors and through their work on our Regional Boards and Commissions, I have no doubt that they will all make a really positive contribution in the crucial years which lie ahead.

“In our We Ride women’s strategy we committed to showing true leadership to cultivate a growth environment for women in our sport, and through these appointments, the remarkable success of our HSBC UK Breeze programme and the growth in our female membership, we are continuing to make fantastic progress.”

Today’s announcement follows a successful campaign in the summer to diversify the make-up of the organisation’s discipline commissions, which resulted in four women being appointed as Commission Chairs: Tabitha Rendell for BMX, Helen Wyman for Cyclo-Cross, Anna McLeod for MTB Endurance and Andrea Lockhart for MTB Gravity.

After serving as a Board member for the maximum three terms permitted under the Code for Sports Governance, George Gilbert will continue his role as Chair of the Technical Commission, while Wendy Cull leaves the board at the end of her two-year term following election in 2017. British Cycling would like to thank both George and Wendy for their valued contribution to the Board’s work in recent years.

British Cycling Board of Directors:

Frank Slevin (Independent Chair)

Marian Lauder MBE (Senior Independent Director)

Sharon Bridgland-Gough (Independent Director)

Kathy Gilchrist

Julie Harrington (Chief Executive)

Peter King CBE

Richard Lodge

Nick Lumb

Tabitha Rendall

Alex Russell (Independent Director)

Nick Smith

Julie Watts