Trackdays.co.uk appoints former Managing Director of Virgin Experience Days - News

One of the UK’s leading providers of driving experiences and track days - Trackdays.co.uk – is gearing up for a record 2019 following the appointment of Paul O’Brien, the former managing director of Virgin Experience Days.

• Paul O'Brien joins the board of Trackdays.co.uk
• Previously Managing Director of Virgin Experience Days
• Trackdays.co.uk is part of Digital Sports Group which offers a range of gift experiences
  

His appointment to the board is with immediate effect and his remit will primarily include strengthening www.trackdays.co.uk as one of the UK’s top driving experience and track day providers, plus promoting the other non-automotive gift experiences it offers.

The gift experience market in the UK has seen strong growth, with the festive period alone estimated to be more than £1.5 billion according to a recent study by Barclaycard, as consumers increasingly opt to buy life-enhancing gifts based around an activity rather than "stuff". Research suggests that one of the reasons for this is that a gift experience lives longer in the memory rather than a material purchase.

As well as being a leading figure in the UK gift experience sector, Paul’s significant expertise in the motorsport arena as a senior executive at some of the UK’s best-loved race circuits, including Silverstone, will enhance TrackDays already considerable expertise in this area.

He was instrumental in developing the Silverstone Driving Centre, as well as being Race Operations Director at the world-famous circuit. Paul also chaired ARDS, the Association of Racing Drivers Schools, the body responsible for licensing instructors and testing drivers applying for their competition licence.

Paul said: "I’m thrilled to be joining TrackDays.co.uk and look forward to using my motorsport and gift experience expertise to drive the business forward.

"Our focus will be to build on the track days and driving experiences offering as a platform to highlight the diverse range of lifestyle experiences also available to our customer base."

Trackdays.co.uk was established in 2004 and offers a range of driving experiences and track days at the UK’s leading race circuits, as well as non-automotive experiences and corporate days as diverse as flying a light aircraft to cookery classes.

James Richardson, founder and CEO of TrackDays.co.uk, said: "I’m delighted that Paul has joined TrackDays.co.uk. His experience in motorsport and the gift experience sector is second-to-none and will be invaluable in growing TrackDays.co.uk as the market leader for track days and driving experiences, as well as strengthening our range of lifestyle and arts and crafts gift experiences designed for individuals or as team events."