RACECOURSE SCOOPS TOP BUSINESS AWARD
BUSINESS AWARD ACCOLADE FOR RACECOURSE
AYR Racecourse and Western House
Hotel were awarded the Business Excellence Award in the
manufacturing and service category at the annual Ayrshire Chamber
of Commerce Dinner held in the Princess Royal Suite at the
racecourse last Friday.
The award presented by Jim McGeehan Managing Director of Business
Excellence Ayrshire to William Gorol, General Manager of Ayr
Racecourse caps an amazing turn round in the fortunes of the
business.
In June 2003 Ayr Racecourse was bought by Alan Macdonald, owner of
the Dawn Group, and Richard Johnstone, Managing Director of
healthcare provider Thorntoun, in a £10 million deal.
The course and its buildings were in need of a major investment in
order to re-establish Ayr as Scotland's premier racecourse.
Since then there have been massive improvements to the course and
its facilities with many more in the pipeline. One of the most
significant changes was the £4.5 million transformation of
Western House from the HQ of the Western Meeting Club to a four
star hotel.
In under three years the hotel has established itself as one of
Scotland's quality wedding venues and won a string of awards
including the Scottish Wedding Hotel of the Year in both 2007 and
2008 and the coveted VisitScotland Thistle Award for Customer Care
- Service Accommodation 2007.
Other improvements include the opening of the Princess Royal
Exhibition, Banqueting and Conference centre in 2005 -
Ayrshire's first ever dedicated venue of its kind.
And next month the £4.5 million Ayrshire Suite will open on
the ground floor of the Princess Royal Stand. This will provide a
2500 capacity Grandstand sports bar on racedays and state of the
art conference and banqueting facilities on non race days.
Among the first events to be held there will be the 2008 Scottish
Conservative Party conference in May.
Over the past year the racecourse has also staged its first ever
rock concert - Rock At The Racecourse featuring The Saw Doctors and
Deacon Blue and in May this year Burns Rock At The Racecourse takes
place with Status Quo and special guests From The Jam.
The legendary Saints and Sinners race night will also be staged at
Ayr for the first time ever in June after organisers decided to
move from Hamilton in order to raise even more money for the
charities it supports.
The Racecourse itself has scooped theRacegoers Club Racecourse of
the Year Award for Scotland and the North East for four successive
years from 2004-2007.
Now more than 80 full time staff are employed at the Racecourse and
Western House with the number reaching around 700 at major
racedays.
William Gorol said : "It is a great privilege to receive this
ward on behalf of the team. Alan Macdonald and Richard Johnstone
had a vision for the racecourse and they are already well on their
way to achieving that.
"Not only is Ayr Racecourse one of the top courses in the UK
but in Western House Hotel and the Princess Royal Centre we have
two marvellous facilities that combine to make Ayr a much more
attractive destination for conferences and tourism."
Current News
FIRST FLAT MEETING OF SEASON ON MAY 21
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coming under starter's orders at 2.00 pm.
First race is the
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RACECOURSE PLANS APPROVED BY SOUTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL
COUNCIL APPROVES RACECOURSE PLANS[IMG: 499 height=
"165" alt="ARTIST"
width="220" align="right" border="0" name="499"]
AMBITIOUS plans to turn Ayr
Racecourse into not only one of the top racecourses
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NEW SPONSOR CONFIRMED FOR AYR GOLD CUP
JOHN SMITH'S TO SPONSOR AYR GOLD CUP[IMG: 498 height="220" alt="AYR GOLD CUP" width=
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JOHN Smith's is to sponsor the
Ayr Gold Cup Festival, Scotland&
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TOP CORAL NATIONAL CROWD FOR 30 YEARS
CORAL SCOTTISH GRAND NATIONAL ATTENDANCES HIT RECORD HIGH
OFFICIAL attendance figures for the
2008 Coral Scottish Grand National Festival at Ayr Racecourse were
the highest for more than 30 years.[IMG
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