Cheltenham, a forgotten meeting in 1964, horse racing, gambling and £230 million
When a group of influential types met in 1964 to hatch a plan they created an organisation that today influences governments and has made Gloucestershire famous world-wide.
Dear readers,
We hope you had a great week.
On Monday we published one of our most-read editions to date, our take on the launch of the incredible Big Space Cancer Appeal, just who is running it, why and what it could mean for the county (you can read it here).
And then yesterday (Thursday) we published an article we hope is something of an antidote to the dark cloud that obscured the full picture of the construction sector recently following the demise of the giant ISG.
This glimmer of blue sky was the news that family firm EG Carter has just revealed its last financial year had been a record in terms of turnover, with the well-known Gloucester company that employs just under 200 staff climbing ever closer to a £100 million turnover (you can read that one here).
With today’s main story at the foot of this edition we are still talking big bucks, in more ways than one. This is a tale that started when a small group of influential types from the upper echelons of British society met back in 1964 and the legacy the meeting has left on Cheltenham, on Gloucestershire and on the entire world.
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Your briefing notes
🍜 If you are a fan of food, especially food without the faffing that comes with a fancy restaurant, then this could be of interest. Japanese noodle bar Daikoku Ramen has opened its doors at the excellent Gloucester Food Dock. It is the latest addition to the community of independent food and drink businesses at the waterside venue fronting Victoria Basin.
⛪🍹 Cheltenham’s Revolution cocktail bar, 9,000 square feet of bar and restaurant space on Clarence Parade next door to Michelin Star restaurant Lumiere and decadent dessert house SISU Pancakes, is up for sale through property agents Savilles. The 700 capacity venue is unusual in that it’s within an 18th century former Baptist Church.
💷 💷 UK Government Minister, Sarah Jones MP, has welcomed the publication of the Western Gateway new economic narrative which aims to drive investment into the area. Why is that important? Gloucestershire is part of the pan-regional partnership which brings together local leaders from two countries to fight for the West and Wales region on the national stage. It’s an area with an economy estimated to be worth £129 billion. According to the group’s research it is currently missing out on between £3 million and £9 million per business of private sector investment, compared to other parts of the UK, and receives half the public sector investment of Oxford-Cambridge area.
🖥️ 📖 The Western Gateway will also be on the agenda at one of the many events due to take place as part of The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival next week. Influential Cheltenham cyber cluster CyNam is due to team up with The Western Gateway Cyber & Technology Supercluster on Thursday 10 October to explore the vital role of technology in safeguarding the UK’s future prosperity and resilience. The event will feature a half-day conference, engaging networking opportunities, and a special forward-looking session called Future75 You can find out more here.
🏎️ For motor racing fans who know who Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Fangio and Niki Lauda are. The name BRM (British Racing Motors) will probably also have a special place in their hearts. BRM raced primarily from 1950 to 1974 winning 17 Grand Prixs. Keeping that legacy very much alive is its current owners, the Owen family, which this year took part in the Prescott Hill Climb in Gloucestershire. It was an event part-sponsored by Cheltenham firm BPE Solicitors. Philip Radford and John Workman from the firm got talking to BRM and BPE can now reveal it is its official legal team for 2024.
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Cheltenham, a forgotten meeting in 1964, horse racing, gambling and £230 million
When a group of influential types met in 1964 to hatch a plan they set in motion a chain of events that created an organisation that today influences governments, has left a lasting legacy in Gloucestershire and made many, very, very rich.
By Andrew Merrell
Way back in 1964 a group of influential sport-loving high society types sat around a table and created an organisation to secure the future of piece of land to the north of Cheltenham which for a large part of the year went relatively unnoticed, even by those who lives in the town.
Come the autumn through to Spring it was a different story as they and thousands of others from across the class divides would gather on the same piece of land to watch some of the finest horses of their generation race in what would become one of the highpoints of the jump racing season in the world.
The organisation they founded was called the Racecourse Holdings Trust, established to secure the future of Cheltenham as a venue for jump racing - and no doubt make a little bit of money too.
And as successful as it was, little did they know just what it was they had set running. Had they lived another sixty years they would have found themselves riding a very different beast.
What they started is today a multi-million-pound business that influences government and has a major say in a sector worth billions of pounds a year.
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