Jockey Club Racecourses Limited
Strategic report (continued)
Key Board Decisions (continued)
JCC contract extension
In March 2021, the company extended the contact with Compass plc to provide catering operations at all of our racecourses for an additional 3 years to June 2029. The company has been working with Compass since 2009 over which time we have achieved significant improvements in both the quality and consistency of our food offering and customer service, and the income generated from our raceday and conference and events catering operations. Hospitality and catering is a significant income stream and the quality and robustness of delivery is a key differentiator between the company and other similar racecourse operators, therefore given the success of the contract with Compass to date, it was appropriate to lock in a long-term contract to give certainty to this key area of the business and to unlock investment into our facilities that will help drive future growth in this area.
Lifting of Capacity Restrictions
Since capacity restrictions began easing in May 2021, the company has been working proactively to ensure that we have been able to welcome attendees back at our events in a safe and COVID-19 secure environment in accordance with Government and local authority guidelines. From 17 May 2021, crowds of up to 4,000 (capped at 50% of capacity) were allowed to return to venues followed by the removal of most legal limits on social contact and crowd restrictions from 19 July 2021. The business had to make a number of operational decisions to ensure we were able to respond to changes to Government guidelines, including COVID-19 pass checking, and the timeline for lifting restrictions as quickly as possible. While all of these decisions were made to help to protect the long-term financial position of the company and the long- term interests of the sport in general, some have had a short term negative financial impact. Increased operational costs were incurred to ensure that we were able to open our facilities, for both racing and other events, to customers and participants as quickly, efficiently and as safely as possible. We acknowledged that on-course bookmakers have suffered significant financial hardship during the pandemic and we recognise they provide a valuable service to our customers. In order to support them in a small way, we decided to allow free access to on-course bookmakers for all racedays in 2020 and resumed fees at a reduced rate from 17 May 2021 when Government restrictions were eased.
Prize Money Executive Contribution
The level of Prize Money contribution we make into our race programme is one of the most material decisions that the Board takes in any year. This impacts on the competitiveness of our business in attracting the best runners at each level of racing to our racecourses, and provides direct and indirect financial support to owners, trainers, jockeys, horsemen and their own employees. We aim to strike a balance between ensuring our leading races and festivals maintain their global status and competitiveness in horse racing, while ensuring that we are supporting all levels of the ownership and breeding industry at both small and large racecourses. Our decision on Prize Money contribution is traded off against other competing priorities for the company, such as investments into property infrastructure at our racecourses, which are required to maintain the highest level of sporting and customer experience and safety for racing participants and spectators alike. In 2021, our Prize Money decisions were made in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the significant impact that it has had on our key income streams. Therefore, rather than setting a Prize Money budget at the start of the year we had to take a rolling approach and commit to affordable levels of prize money as the underlying extent of the impact and duration of the pandemic. Despite the impacts of Covid-19, we were able to offer total prize money at levels at least as high as 2019 for all of our fixtures in the last quarter of 2021.
6416 102 641
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator