Strategic Support
The Board of Directors advise and support the staff in executing the work of the organisation through its balanced and diverse viewpoints.
about us
Board Members
Audley Sheppard KCIndependent Chair
Audley is an arbitrator and member of Twenty Essex. He was appointed as Chair of Sport Resolutions on 1st July 2021.
With over thirty-five years of experience, Audley has specialised in dispute resolution through negotiation, mediation, litigation, and arbitration.
In addition to his arbitration practice, Audley is active in teaching and education, regularly writing and speaking on topics related to dispute resolution.
Audley also serves as Vice President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) and was Chair of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) from 2017 to 2022.
Jacqui TraynorIndependent Non-Executive Director
Jacqui Traynor is the Anti-Doping and Integrity Officer for British Rowing, and General Secretary and Director for UK Deaf Sport.
Jacqui has over 10 years experience in sport and movement as a professional dancer, competitive rower, coach, and educator. In 2020 Jacqui completed an LLM in Sports Law and Practice with De Montfort University with a focus on sport governance, integrity, and ethics, and through her work with British Rowing and UK Deaf Sport is a keen advocate for inclusion and diversity in sport.
In her spare time, Jacqui enjoys supporting her local running club with their weekly sessions, and the club’s monthly sessions for children with downs syndrome.
Jacqui joined the Board of Sport Resolutions in August 2020. She sits on the Panel Appointments and Review Committee and is Safeguarding Champion for the company.
Martin GibbsIndependent Non-Executive Director
Martin Gibbs qualified as a solicitor with Slaughter and May and then spent ten years in the City in public company corporate finance.
After that he worked for ten years in cycling as Policy and Legal Affairs Director at the national federation, British Cycling, and then as CEO of the international federation, the Union Cycliste Internationale, in Switzerland.
Martin is based in Lausanne where he works for sports organisations and NGOs as a consultant on sports governance, anti-doping and human rights in sport.
Martin joined Sport Resolutions in June 2019 and is a member of the Marketing and Service Development Committee.
Nick HayesIndependent Non-Executive Director
Nick has over 18 years’ experience in the sports marketing industry, with a focus on the commercial world of Formula 1. Having previously worked for the Ferrari and Williams F1 teams, as well as brand-side in the sport with partners such as Coca-Cola, Philips and UPS.
Previously, Nick held the position of Head of Partnerships at British Cycling during the Tokyo Olympic Cycle, and has gained further experience working within international rugby, cricket, football, athletics, and sailing throughout his career.
Nick is currently a Director of a global sponsorship strategy and activation consultancy.
Nick joined the Board of Sport Resolutions in September 2023 and is a member of the Marketing & Service Development Committee.
Alison MitchellIndependent Non-Executive Director
Alison is a highly respected award-winning broadcast journalist, who specialises in sport.
She is well known for her commentary on cricket, but has worked across the wider sports media sector, bringing tremendous knowledge of both domestic and international issues due to extensive travel in a career that has taken in multiple Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games.
At the time of appointment, Alison is a charity trustee, she sits on the Sports Board of the University of Nottingham advising on strategy, and is Chair of the Cricket Writers’ Club, where she has guided members through the early challenges of Covid and introduced initiatives to broaden the demographic of the organisation. Alison trained in media law as part of her journalism qualification.
Outside of work, Alison loves to get outdoors to go hiking, hit a tennis ball, or strum the guitar.
Alison joined the Board of Sport Resolutions in September 2020 and is Equality Champion for the company.
Ronnie DenholmIndependent Non-Executive Director
Ronnie is a seasoned commercial executive with over 35 years of experience in blue chip financial services companies in the United Kingdom and internationally. He has maintained a keen interest in sport from his younger days as an GB athlete through to his time as Board Member and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee at SportsAid.
Jack AndersonIndependent Non-Executive Director
Jack is Professor of Sports Law at the University of Melbourne. He has written extensively on the topic of sports law and acted as a UNODC consultant on safeguarding in sport.
Jack is an accredited workplace mediator, Chartered Arbitrator and solicitor. Previously, Jack served as an arbitrator on the international panel for Sport Resolutions, the World Athletics’ Disciplinary Tribunal and CAS. He was also a legal counsel at Racing Victoria. He is currently a member of the International Hockey Federation’s Integrity Unit and the Asia Racing Federations’ Council on Illegal Betting.
Jack is an arbitrator for Football Australia on employment disputes and, at community level in Melbourne, he is a disciplinary tribunal member for the Yarra Junior Football League and a volunteer at Yarra hockey club.
Jack writes a sports law column for a national newspaper (the Examiner) in Ireland, which is, and will always be, home. He became a Board member of Sport Resolutions in September 2024.
Richard HarryChief Executive Officer
Richard has been Chief Executive at Sport Resolutions since April 2016. Richard joined Sport Resolutions in July 2010 and spent almost six years as firstly Dispute Resolution Manager and then Legal Director.
He is a sports lawyer and former Chief Executive of the Welsh Rugby Players' Association. Richard started his career as a specialist employment and sports lawyer at Hugh James Solicitors in Cardiff before joining Clarke Willmott in Bristol.
He left Clarke Willmott to establish the Welsh Rugby Players' Association and has acted as a Consultant to the World Anti-Doping Agency. Richard is a Visiting Fellow to the School of Sport and Exercise at the University of Gloucestershire, and has been appointed to the Board of the London-based International Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC). He also chairs the IDRC Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.
Sarah NewtonRepresentative Non-Executive Director
Sarah joined the Board of Sport Resolutions in 2021 as one of three directors representing the nine members of the organisation.
Sarah is the Chief Operating Officer for the British Athletes Commission (BAC) which provides independent, confidential expert advice and professional support for all World Class Programme Olympic and Paralympic athlete members.
She is an experienced operational lead and joined the BAC in 2018 having been Director of Operations for the charity Safe Passage; helping child refugees access safe and legal rights. Her previous operational roles have seen her spend nine years at the Rugby Football Union which saw her significantly involved in the redevelopment of Twickenham Stadium and the introduction of wider events being held there, including concerts.
Based in the South West of England her world away from high performance sport involves running the family smallholding.
Adrian StockmanRepresentative Non-Executive Director
Adrian has been the British Paralympic Association’s Director of Finance and Corporate Services since 2019, being part of the team that managed the challenge of delivering the Tokyo and Beijing Winter Games within 6 months of each other. He also served in a similar role for the Sport and Recreation Alliance for three years.
Prior to these experiences in the sport world, Adrian directed finances and resources for nearly twenty years in an African education and development charity and at Amnesty International UK, after being Finance Director for a management buyout team in a healthcare manufacturing business.
His voluntary Board roles include Fairtrade Foundation, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre and 6 lively years as a school governor.
Since 2020, Adrian has served on Sport Resolution’s Audit and Risk Committee.
Richard ParksRepresentative Non-Executive Director
Richard Parks is an award-winning author, BAFTA Cymru nominated filmmaker, multiple world record holding Polar and Alpine athlete, and father.
Richard has skied more solo, unsupported, and unassisted miles in Antarctica than anyone else in history, 4400km, and is the first person of colour to ski solo to the South Pole solo. Richard is the first person to climb the highest mountain on each continent and stand on both the North and South Poles in the same calendar year, and has cycled off-road and unsupported from Canada to Mexico.
Richard has a background in biology and science from studying dentistry at university. For almost 2 decades he has partnered with multiple universities and brands to better understand human performance, particularly the relationship between cognition and stress. In 2016, Richard and his team used an oxygenless ascent on Everest to explore the mechanisms underpinning vascular dementia. Each of Richard’s projects and expeditions have been underpinned and driven by research, education, or social legacy.
In addition to nature and adventure, Richard has exec-produced content on social topics important to him. ‘Can I be Welsh and Black?’ aired on ITV in 2021 and explored the intersection between race and identity in Wales. This earned Richard his second nomination for a BAFTA Cymru Award in the presenter category. He is also a passionate writer, with his first book, ‘Beyond the Horizon’, which chronicles his journey from career ending injury to world first expeditions, winning the Cross Sports Book of the Year Award in the Rugby category in 2015.
Richard is a former international rugby player, playing professionally in France, England, and Wales. He represented Wales, Wales 7s, and Barbarians and won trophies with Pontypridd and Leeds. His career was ended by injury, and although the darkest of times, was the inspiration for his world first ‘737 Challenge’ and has been the foundation of his passion and commitment as a mental health advocate.
Richard also serves on Wales’ national broadcaster - S4C’s Diversity Advisory Panel and is a former board member of Sport Wales, completing 2 terms by ministerial appointment. Richard works with a global portfolio of brands and organisations to deliver performance insight and coaching.
Richard was awarded The Rhodri Morgan Award from the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame for outstanding contribution to Welsh sport, is an honorary fellow of Cardiff University, Honorary Colonel of the Army Cadets and was selected as a Torchbearer of the London 2012 Olympics by public vote.
Richard was appointed to the Board of Sport Resolutions in September 2023 and is the Member Representative for the Welsh Sports Association.