Cheltenham is at the heart of British jump racing, where owners, trainers, jockeys, stable staff and breeders alike dream of having winners. It’s the course where the most important races are run and where equine and human champions forge their reputations. With 16 days of top-class jump racing every year, hundreds of thousands of racing fans come to Cheltenham, with 235,000 in just four days when the Festival takes place.
In addition to the world-renowned Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse also hosts a myriad of events throughout the year. It has a 2,500-capacity live music arena, numerous private functions, conferences and fayres, a fireworks event and twice a year it becomes home to the Wychbold and Greenbold live music festivals.
Our involvement
The Festival at Cheltenham is the shining jewel in the crown of jump racing and Carlisle Events. Our track record, working in partnership with Cheltenham and its stakeholders, is one of our proudest achievements. We started our partnership with Cheltenham Racecourse back in 1989. By 2012 we were supplying 575 staff and in 2013 we started a 24-hour security operation on-site, which was previously completely open and unsecure. In 2015 the racecourse was split between three providers, with us becoming the majority supplier with over 400 staff. We still have three members of staff on-site that originally started with us back
in 1989. We are now the sole provider delivering a complete security and stewarding solution across the entire site. Carlisle has to be able to deliver a flexible solution to cope with the nuances of the events and the audience figures which range from 50-65,000 per day. We use a local delivery model to provide the following services to the Racecourse:
- General stewarding
- Security build and events
- Mobile response teams
- Overnight security
- Silver control support
- Centre of course security
- Parade ring security
- Meet and greet
- Royal box stewards
- Drinks control
- Badge/ticket checks
- Ticket selling
- Ticket checking
- Random security searches
- Car park marshalling
- Course traffic management stewards
The Cheltenham service model stretches well beyond the race day package and includes day-to-day security, seasonal entertainment and the management of corporate events. In addition, our race day solution includes the security of hotel services, campsites and a number of non-racing entertainment points. All of these services are held together by a firm customer focused ethos.
Results and Benefits to the Client
We have continually developed our service to meet the complex needs of the racecourse and its extended entertainment packages. This has resulted in Carlisle
becoming the sole security provider delivering a bespoke event management solution for each event and a range of specialist personnel.
Our use of a dedicated event manager and the latest technology provides a high quality, consistent and auditable service. This process has enabled Cheltenham
to benefit from a multi-skilled service delivery model that maximises the skills of our people and reduces over event costs, whilst creating a safe and high-quality experience every time for the end-user – the customer.
“The Festival is now over and what an epic week it was. A record 260,000 racegoers enjoyed top sport and customer experience at exceptional level. Thank you for your significant involvement in helping deliver the four days. The standard of stewarding has been improving all season and there were some particular success during the Festival.
A huge thank you for your vital contribution, and to your team members who help to deliver this unique event. I hope that everyone got a few moments to enjoy the atmosphere during the week.”
Becky Elvin, Regional Racing and C&E Operations Manager
