Battle · 5 companies
Racecourses
Odds-on favourite, or a non-runner?
Ascot leads on turnover, pre-tax profit and profit margin; Ayr Racecourse on growth; Newbury Racecourse on net assets. Ascot is the biggest by turnover at £115m, against £42m at Chester Racecourse. Ascot keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £14.65 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. Chester Racecourse and Newbury Racecourse file group accounts that include subsidiaries; Ascot, Goodwood Racecourse and Ayr Racecourse file for a single company, which flatters the groups on size.
Accounts compared: Ascot to Dec 2025 · Chester Racecourse to Dec 2025 · Goodwood Racecourse to Dec 2025 · Newbury Racecourse to Dec 2025 · Ayr Racecourse to Dec 2025
The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AscotAscot Racecourse Limited | £115m | +4.8% | £17m | 14.6% | 164 | n/d | n/d | £4m | £48k | Dec 2025 | Single company |
| 2 | Chester RacecourseChester Race Company Limited | £42m | +9.3% | £1.9m | 4.5% | 146 | £90,000 | £287,000 | £41m | £13m | Dec 2025 | Group |
| 3 | Goodwood RacecourseGoodwood Racecourse Limited | £26m | +1.5% | -£0.3m | -1.2% | 65 | £41,000 | £399,000 | £18m | £1.3m | Dec 2025 | Single company |
| 4 | Newbury RacecourseNewbury Racecourse PLC | £23m | +6.1% | £1.1m | 4.8% | 193 | £27,000 | £121,000 | £48m | £9m | Dec 2025 | Group |
| 5 | Ayr RacecourseThe Western Meeting Club Limited | £10m | +12.6% | £0.2m | 2.1% | 78 | £21,000 | £131,000 | £8m | £1.9m | Dec 2025 | Single company |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Ascot
£115m
Most pre-tax profit
Ascot
£17m
Highest profit margin
Ascot
14.6%
Fastest-growing turnover
Ayr Racecourse
+12.6%
Biggest employer
Newbury Racecourse
193 staff
Highest pay per head
Chester Racecourse
£90,000
Most turnover per head
Goodwood Racecourse
£399,000
Largest net assets
Newbury Racecourse
£48m
Most cash
Chester Racecourse
£13m
The Takeaway
- Ascot converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £14.65 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £1.18 at Goodwood Racecourse.
- Ascot is the largest on the top line, £115m of turnover, 2.7x Chester Racecourse's £42m.
- Ayr Racecourse is growing fastest, turnover +12.6% on its own prior year.
- Newbury Racecourse is the biggest employer with 193 people; Chester Racecourse pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £90,000.
- Newbury Racecourse has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £48m, while Chester Racecourse holds the most cash at £13m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Ascot keeps the most: £14.65 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Goodwood Racecourse does worst, losing £1.18.
Financing bites hardest at Ayr Racecourse: £2.24 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Ascot (£115m), Chester Racecourse (£42m), Goodwood Racecourse (£26m), Newbury Racecourse (£23m), Ayr Racecourse (£10m).
By headcount, Newbury Racecourse leads with 193 employees.
The accounting periods all end in the same month. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Ayr Racecourse grew fastest, turnover +12.6% on its own prior year, ahead of Chester Racecourse (+9.3%), Newbury Racecourse (+6.1%), Ascot (+4.8%), Goodwood Racecourse (+1.5%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Newbury Racecourse employs the most, 193 people, against 164 at Ascot.
Chester Racecourse has the highest average staff cost, about £90,000 a head; Ayr Racecourse the lowest, about £21,000.
Goodwood Racecourse brings in the most turnover per employee, about £399,000, against £121,000 at Newbury Racecourse. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Per-head figures are left out for Ascot (staff costs under 2% of turnover): the staff are probably employed by another company in the group, so dividing by this company's headcount would mislead.
Ascot
164
employees, +1.2% on the year
Chester Racecourse
146
employees, about £90,000 pay a head, £287,000 turnover a head, -11.0% on the year
Goodwood Racecourse
65
employees, about £41,000 pay a head, £399,000 turnover a head, +3.2% on the year
Newbury Racecourse
193
employees, about £27,000 pay a head, £121,000 turnover a head, +1.0% on the year
Ayr Racecourse
78
employees, about £21,000 pay a head, £131,000 turnover a head, +2.6% on the year
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by Ascot Authority Holdings Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 4 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Ascot →
Chester Race Company Limited · 00037600No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 1 outstanding charge on the register.
Who owns Chester Racecourse →
Goodwood Racecourse Limited · 00772766Held by Goodwood Estate Company Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control in the 75% to 100% band. 1 outstanding charge on the register.
Who owns Goodwood Racecourse →
Newbury Racecourse PLC · 00080774Held by Compton Beauchamp Estates Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 1 outstanding charge on the register.
Who owns Newbury Racecourse →
The Western Meeting Club Limited · SC234779Held by Western Meeting Club 2003
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 4 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Ayr Racecourse →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Ascot | Chester Racecourse | Goodwood Racecourse | Newbury Racecourse | Ayr Racecourse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered name | ASCOT RACECOURSE LIMITED | CHESTER RACE COMPANY LIMITED | GOODWOOD RACECOURSE LIMITED | NEWBURY RACECOURSE PLC | THE WESTERN MEETING CLUB LIMITED |
| Company number | 04320977 | 00037600 | 00772766 | 00080774 | SC234779 |
| Incorporated | 2001 | 1892 | 1963 | 1904 | 2002 |
| Accounts filed | 24 July 2026 | 23 September 2026 | 8 October 2026 | 21 June 2026 | 26 September 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £110m | £38m | £26m | £22m | £9m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £14m | £0.6m | -£4m | £1.1m | -£0.3m |
| Staff costs | £2m | £13m | £3m | £5m | £1.6m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 1.9% | 31.2% | 10.2% | 22.1% | 15.8% |
| Employees, prior year | 162 | 164 | 63 | 191 | 76 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | £0.4m | n/d | -£0.2m | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Racecourses: common questions
Who is the biggest of Ascot, Chester Racecourse, Goodwood Racecourse, Newbury Racecourse or Ayr Racecourse?
Ascot, with turnover of £115m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Ascot: £17m pre-tax in the year to December 2025.
Which employs the most people?
Newbury Racecourse, with 193 employees in its latest accounts.
Ascot or Chester Racecourse: which is bigger?
Ascot, with turnover of £115m against £42m at Chester Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Ascot keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Ascot or Goodwood Racecourse: which is bigger?
Ascot, with turnover of £115m against £26m at Goodwood Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Ascot keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Ascot or Newbury Racecourse: which is bigger?
Ascot, with turnover of £115m against £23m at Newbury Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Ascot keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Ascot or Ayr Racecourse: which is bigger?
Ascot, with turnover of £115m against £10m at Ayr Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Ascot keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Chester Racecourse or Goodwood Racecourse: which is bigger?
Chester Racecourse, with turnover of £42m against £26m at Goodwood Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Chester Racecourse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Chester Racecourse or Newbury Racecourse: which is bigger?
Chester Racecourse, with turnover of £42m against £23m at Newbury Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Newbury Racecourse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Chester Racecourse or Ayr Racecourse: which is bigger?
Chester Racecourse, with turnover of £42m against £10m at Ayr Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Chester Racecourse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Goodwood Racecourse or Newbury Racecourse: which is bigger?
Goodwood Racecourse, with turnover of £26m against £23m at Newbury Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Newbury Racecourse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Goodwood Racecourse or Ayr Racecourse: which is bigger?
Goodwood Racecourse, with turnover of £26m against £10m at Ayr Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Ayr Racecourse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Newbury Racecourse or Ayr Racecourse: which is bigger?
Newbury Racecourse, with turnover of £23m against £10m at Ayr Racecourse on their latest filings. On margin, Newbury Racecourse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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