Cheltenham Racecourse owner triumphs despite handicaps
With attendance at Cheltenham Festival down and 13 races abandoned, was heavy last year for Jockey Club Racecourses, British horse racing’s largest commercial body. But did it win financially?
Dear reader,
Welcome to Monday’s edition of The Raikes Journal.
We temporarily shelved a profile piece we had ready for today on an exciting, fast-growing county IT firm when we picked up the news that is our lead story below.
It’s easy to take Cheltenham Festival for granted. Every year the near week-long jump racing event in April brings thousands to the county to enjoy themselves.
The event is worth an estimated £270 million-plus to the county’s businesses, so how well the Jockey Club Racecourses does has a significant bearing on the county economically and how it’s perceived from outside too.
But horseracing in under pressure from all sides, and the business that owns the county racecourse and the festival had to cancel 13 of its events in the year covered by its latest financial statement – mainly due to bad weather. Rising costs were also a major issue.
So despite the handicaps how did it do? We take a look.
The edition also includes the usual charity of the week feature – a significant grant and partnerships at work – news of significant recognition for the expertise of the legal teams at one of our key partners, Willans, some dairy dates as well as some briefing notes.
The latter features a story about plans for where thousands of homes should be built in the Cotswolds, which county pubs are among the UK’s very best, an incredible year for engineering giant Renishaw and the financial momentum behind expanding family car dealership Warners.
Have a great week.
Best regards,
Editor | 07956 926061 | LinkedIn: Andrew Merrell | andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk
Charities of the Week…
A major three-year initiative to tackle rising loneliness and social isolation in Stonehouse, Cinderford, Mitcheldean, Cam and Dursley is being launched thanks to a £900,000 investment from The Summerfield Charitable Trust. Building Connections: People, Place & Partnership will be delivered by three Gloucestershire-based charities – Forest Voluntary Action Forum, GL11 Community Hub and All Pulling Together. The initiative is designed around the idea that people need places, and places need people. By investing in both, the programme will help residents feel more connected, confident and able to shape what happens in their own neighbourhoods. These five towns and villages have been chosen because they show some of the highest combined risk factors for loneliness and isolation in Gloucestershire, and because of their potential. Read more here.
Briefing notes…
🍻 Nine Gloucestershire pubs have been named among the very best 500 in the UK by The Telegraph news newspaper. The pubs were among those picked from the UK’s 42,700 pubs. Those that made the list include The Pelican Inn, Gloucester, The Old Spot Inn, Dursley, The Horseshoe, Chipping Sodbury, The Salutation, Ham, The Jolly Brewmaster, Cheltenham, The Queens Head, Stow-on-the-Wold, The Prince Albert, Stroud, The Queens Head, Stow-on-the-Wold, The Farmers Arms, Lower Apperley and The Drillmans Arms, Cirencester.
🏘️🏘️🏘️ Revealed: Where 18,900 homes could be built in the Cotswolds: A new blueprint for almost 19,000 homes suggests major expansions to Cotswold towns and the creation of large villages over the next 20 years. Cotswold District Council’s new local plan, which will set out a long-term vision for the district, is being considered by councillors next month. It proposes the creation of 10 strategic sites which include 3,717 homes in and around Cirencester, 2,217 homes in Moreton-in-Marsh and 1,658 homes in Down Ampney.
📈 A final quarter trading update by Gloucestershire engineering giant Renishaw saw an 8.1 per cent surge in its share value. The Wotton-under-Edge-based business said revenue had reached £243 million for the quarter, a rise of 27 per cent on the same period the year before. All of which means profits for the year gone are likely to come in at higher than forecast, with overall growth hitting a new record. General revenue also rise by 18 per cent on the same period last year. Full year trading is expected to be in the region of £815m, a 14 per cent rise, with adjusted pre-tax profits up 31 per cent to £167m.
🚗🚗🚗 Car dealership Warners of Gloucester, which opened a new showroom in Cheltenham this month for its Chery franchise, has revealed it did so off the back of turnover rising to £29.8 million. Guy Warner, ceo of the family business, said “sales of Jaecoo and Omoda vehicles exceeded expectations” for the year ending 30 September 2025 “whilst the service and parts operations continued to perform robustly”. He said the refit of the Tewkesbury dealership to the new Citroën corporate identity was expected to provide a solid platform for the brand moving forward and the new Chery franchise was “an exciting opportunity”. Profit for the financial year after tax was down from £206,365 to £79,120.
Lawyers recognised as leading advisors to high net worth individuals
If you want to know who the best lawyers are for almost any specialism you can reach for independent guides like the one published by Chambers. It’s latest Chambers High Net Worth guide reveals three of the partners at one of the key sponsors that make The Raikes Journal possible, Willans LLP solicitors, have been listed for their expertise. Simon Cook and Paul Gordon, each singled out for a number of years as leaders in their individual specialisms, have been joined by Clare Cox. Cook heads up the wills, trusts and probate team at the Cheltenham-headquartered law firm. That team is also listed by the guide. Partners Rachel Sugden, Tom O’Riordan and Laura Stone are also singled out as ‘highly regarded’. Cox is a partner in the inheritance and trusts disputes team and Gordon a partner and head of litigation and dispute resolution. More here.
Diary dates…
Tuesday:
The Growth Hub in Cirencester is due to stage ‘How to pitch your charity or social enterprise for investment’ from 10.30am to 12.30pm. More here.
Wednesday:
Business networking group BNI Five Valleys is due to stage its latest event at The Old Lodge, Stroud, from 7am. More here.
BNI Cornerstone (Cirencester) is due to stage its latest event at Roots & Seeds, Cirencester, from 9.45 am to 11.15am. More here.
Thursday:
BNI Compass is due to stage one of its networking events at Patch at The Forum in Gloucester on Thursday, 30 July. 10am start. £10 cost. More here.
Friday:
Gloucester Business Improvement District is due to stage its Connections over Coffee networking event at Gloucester Food Dock from 10am to 11.30am. More here.
Talk Property Cheltenham, billed as ‘the property community around one table’. From 10am to 11.30am. More here.
The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People, our sponsors, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
Readers who upgrade to become a paid subscriber become part of this CIC too (from £2.30 a week). It helps make us sustainable, allows you to see past the paywalls, comment on our stories, and know you’re making possible the county’s only editorially-led digital magazine dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire about its businesses, charities, education and training sectors.
Raikes is the only independent website approved to use the BBC’s local Government copy. It recognises Raikes as independent journalism.
Cheltenham Racecourse owner triumphs despite handicaps
With attendance at Cheltenham Festival down and 13 races abandoned, was heavy last year for Jockey Club Racecourses, British horse racing’s largest commercial body. But did it win financially?
By Andrew Merrell.
With attendance at Cheltenham Festival down and 13 racing fixtures abandoned across its courses nationwide the going was heavy during its last financial year for Jockey Club Racecourses, British horse racing’s largest commercial body.
Handicaps came not just from the weather impacting events, but from managing the UK’s self-inflicted challenges to its commercial engine – the increases in the National Living Wage and national insurance contributions.
Wages and salaries rose from £23.7m to £26m for the Jockey Club - and that’s just the permanent staff, not the army of temporary recruits it brings in for the likes of the Cheltenham Festival week in March that draws the eyes of the sporting world to the spa town.
That one four-day period of racing alone is estimated to be worth more than £274 million to the county’s economy – much of that across its pubs, clubs, restaurants and hotels – with the average spend by those attending nearly £600.
Costs overall increased by 3.1 per cent, from £140.4m to £145.7m. Among them increases in prize money to ensure the very best competed at its events.
And those rises cut into operating profit, down from £18.8m (2025) to £5m (2024) – the £18.8m being a rise on 2023’s £7.6m.
Nevertheless, despite the obstacles Jockey Club Racecourses crossed the line for its financial year ending 31 December 2025 with plenty to cheer about.
There are consistent references to ‘further growth’ in its annual report, just filed at Companies House.
“Aggregate attendance across the racecourses increased from 1,449,000 to 1,474,000, with paid attendance rising by 1.3 per cent despite 10 fewer fixtures being staged during the year, demonstrating the continued appeal of the company’s racing programme,” said Jim Mullen, chief executive of The Jockey Club Racecourses.
“Performance at the company’s major events remained encouraging, with strong attendance growth at the Aintree Grand National Festival (up 4 per cent), the July Festival (up six per cent), the Guineas (up 13 per cent) and the Christmas Meeting (up 18 per cent).
“Attendance at the Cheltenham Festival declined by three per cent, however investments into the race day experience at the 2025 Festival provided racegoers with an enhanced offering, laying the foundations for future growth.
“The company achieved strong demand across many of our major events and continued growth in media rights income.
“Reflecting this performance, the company’s turnover increased by 1.9 per cent to £236.7m (2024: restated £232.4m).
“Growth was driven primarily by higher media rights income, increasing from £62.0m to £63.6m (2.6 per cent uplift), reflecting pricing growth in revenues derived from online betting activity, supported by growth in sponsorship and non-racing income streams.”
And there was a particular focus on Cheltenham’s place in its current and future success.
It added: “The company has made encouraging progress in growing attendances and maintaining the appeal of its major events, and robust plans remain in place to build on this momentum.
“Investment in customer experience, particularly at Cheltenham, reflects the strategic importance we place on long-term growth in general admissions and on maintaining the quality of the racegoer experience across the company’s racecourses.
“A major milestone following the year-end was the announcement of a new exclusive twenty-year partnership with Levy, the sports and entertainment division of Compass Group UK & Ireland.
“This partnership creates a significant long-term investment opportunity for Jockey Club Racecourse Limited and will help transform the spectator experience across our racecourses.”
The business owns 15 racecourses in all, including Aintree, home of The Randox Grand National Festival, Epsom Downs, (The Betfred Derby Festival) and Newmarket (The Guineas Festival).
“The rebranding of Jockey Club Catering to Jockey Club Experiences reflects an expanded scope that now includes hospitality package sales and delivery, conferencing and events, and retail merchandising, alongside food and beverage operations.
“This partnership is an important part of our strategy to enhance the customer proposition and support long-term sustainable growth,” said Mullen.