29th February to be official launch of Jockey Club Venues
Tuesday, 21 February 2012 10:32
29th February to be official launch of Jockey Club Venues
The countdown to 29th February is on for the launch of Jockey Club Venues, host to some of the UK’s most prolific live events.The Epsom Investec Derby, Aintree John Smith's Grand National and The Cheltenham Festival will all be hosted at Jockey Club Venues in 2012 along with an emergent revenue stream of non-race day events, comprising meetings, conferences, exhibitions and live performances.
The 14 strong collection of racecourses will be officially launched at Kempton Park by The Jockey Club’s group operations director, John Baker. He will share the vision of growth for the £17m revenue stream for the group and demonstrate how corporates, agents and promoters can benefit from using the venues on non-race days.
The Jockey Club has seen a 6% growth in demand for non-race day events as clients realise the scope and cost-effectiveness of using a racecourse. Corporate events from Kraft, Co-Op, and Curry’s have moved from the traditional confines of the ubiquitous hotel chain, instead opting for the natural daylight and commanding views of the racecourses. Automotive clients including Mercedes-Benz and Honda Motorcycles have maximized the use of the large scale facilities and significant free car parking for car launches and dealer activities.
Made up of landmark racecourses across the UK including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom, Newmarket and Sandown Park, the portfolio is highly skilled in planning and executing some of the UK’s most renowned events:
• The Cheltenham Festival and Gold Cup: Over 220,000 spectators will attend the four day Festival in March, consuming 20,000 bottles of champagne, 30,000 bottles of wine, 240,000 bottles of beer & lager, 220,000 pints of Guinness and 10,000 gallons of tea and coffee. Each day 12,000 people will sit down to a three course lunch in the hospitality areas.
• 100,000 racegoers will congregate for Britain's biggest day out at the Epsom Investec Derby in June. 850 catering staff will be on hand to serve 15,000 bottles of champagne and 44,000 pints of beer contributing to the £1.2m in food and drink sales.
John Baker, group operations director, said, “We are delighted at the number of people confirmed to attend the race night and dinner. The meetings and event sector is of particular importance and we are keen to ensure that we have created a product offering and price point that will drive this sector for the group.
