Compass Group land huge racecourse deal

Jockey Club Racecourses stage many of the key events in the British sporting calendar, including the Cheltenham Festival, the Aintree Grand National meeting and the Derby at Epsom. The group stages 350 fixtures a year, drawing crowds in excess of 1.8m, as well as hosting thousands of events on non-race days at its 14 courses spread across the country. Before the announcement of the landmark deal, Compass catered at Aintree, Cheltenham, Newmarket and Warwick, but following today's announcement they will also take the reins at Carlisle, Epsom Downs, Exeter, Haydock Park, Huntingdon, Kempton Park, Market Rasen, Nottingham, Sandown Park and Wincanton. Simon Bazalgette, Chief Executive of the Jockey Club and Chairman of Jockey Club Racecourses, said: "We are very excited at the prospect of working in partnership with Compass UK & Ireland. This ten year deal represents a fantastic opportunity for both parties to invest in the future and to provide improved standards of service across all aspects of our catering output, which will be appreciated by all of our customers. "Today's announcement is the culmination of a long term strategic objective of Jockey Club Racecourses to bring together the assets we hold within the group so that we may optimise their leverage in negotiating an improved catering deal. In order to do so we needed to bring our various existing contracts to a co-terminus conclusion before embarking on what, unsurprisingly, was a very competitive tender process. "One of the group's great strengths is its diversity and we have been careful to ensure all of our courses, both the larger and smaller ones, retain their individuality. Indeed, built into the deal is a commitment from Compass Group UK & Ireland to work with regional suppliers, support local produce and continue to serve the dishes that are unique to the respective courses." The ten year deal gets underway across the group on 1st July 2009.