Race-goers boost hospitality firms
West Country hoteliers, pub owners, and contract caterer Compass enjoyed a bumper Cheltenham National Hunt Festival this week. The three-day racing festival climaxes today (Thursday) with the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the most prestigious jump race in the British sporting calendar.
About 175,000 punters were expected to visit the course, together gambling £40m and spending £10m on food and drink inside the course. Local hotels and pubs were anticipating a £5m boost from visitors.
Caterer Letheby & Christopher, part of the Compass Group, predicted race-goers would guzzle more than 250,000 pints of Guinness, lager and beer and 30,000 bottles of wine and Champagne.
The caterer also expected bumper food sales, including 10,000 portions of Harry Ramsden's fish and chips, 40 tons of chips, two-and-a-half tons of prime beef and 6,000 slices of smoked salmon.
On Tuesday a £15m multipurpose business, conferencing and entertainment venue called the Centaur was unveiled at the course. It includes six bars and a giant plasma TV screen.
