Chester Racecourse: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
Chester Race Company Limited has no person with significant control recorded on the Companies House register. In the year to December 2024 it reported turnover of £38m.
Chester Racecourse has filed accounts for the year to 31 December 2025 at Companies House. Those figures are not yet in Spark Intel's data, so this page shows the previous year, to 31 December 2024. It will update when they are.
- Registered name
- CHESTER RACE COMPANY LIMITED
- Company number
- 00037600
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 21 November 1892
- Registered office area
- Chester
- Industry code on the register
- 55100: Accommodation
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Latest accounts
- Year to December 2024, filed 8 August 2025
What does Chester Racecourse do?
Chester Racecourse is a flat racecourse on the Roodee in Chester, where racing has been held since 1539; the course says it is recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest racecourse in the world. It stages 15 fixtures a season, including the Boodles May Festival with the Chester Cup, Chester Vase and Cheshire Oaks. It is part of Chester Race Company, which also runs the Bangor-on-Dee and Musselburgh racecourses, the Horseradish catering business, the on-site Holiday Inn Express and the Commonhall Social bar in Chester. Alongside racedays it earns money from hospitality, conferences, corporate events, weddings and concerts.
In brief: flat racecourse in Chester · racing since 1539 · 15 fixtures a season · group also runs Bangor-on-Dee and Musselburgh
Source: Chester Racecourse's own website, retrieved 25 September 2026.
Who owns Chester Racecourse?
Chester Race Company Limited, company number 00037600, has no person with significant control recorded on the register. The full record is linked below.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Chester Racecourse?
The Companies House register lists 8 current officers for Chester Race Company Limited.
All 8 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Marco John Garavello | 31 May 2014 |
| Marco John Garavello | 20 October 2014 |
| John Sullivan O'Doherty | 1 October 2017 |
| Joelle Susan Warren | 1 April 2019 |
| Louise Adele Stewart | 1 March 2022 |
| Kevin Hart | 1 April 2024 |
| Julie Anne Harrington | 1 April 2025 |
| Gary Middlebrook | 1 March 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Chester Racecourse file?
Chester Race Company Limited reported turnover of £38m in the year to December 2024. That was up 1.9% on £38m the year before.
It reported 164 employees. The year before it reported 162.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £0.6m for the year, against a pre-tax profit of £2m the year before.
Staff costs came to £12m. That is an average of £73,000 a head. It ended the year with £12m at the bank and net assets of £40m. It paid dividends of £0.4m.
| Measure | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £38m | £38m |
| Pre-tax profit | £0.6m (filed) | £2m (filed) |
| Employees | 164 | 162 |
| Staff costs | £12m | £11m |
| Average staff cost per head | £73,000 | £69,000 |
| Bank and cash | £12m | £11m |
| Net assets | £40m | £40m |
| Dividends paid | £0.4m | £70k |
| Interest received | £0.6m | |
| Directors' pay | £0.7m |
Read the accounts to December 2024 on Companies House, where every set of accounts the company has filed can be downloaded as a PDF.
Are there any charges against Chester Racecourse?
Chester Race Company Limited has registered 12 charges at Companies House, and all of them have since been satisfied. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
Chester Racecourse files as Chester Race Company Limited, with turnover of £38m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Chester Racecourse
What does Chester Racecourse do?
Chester Racecourse is a flat racecourse on the Roodee in Chester, where racing has been held since 1539; the course says it is recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest racecourse in the world. It stages 15 fixtures a season, including the Boodles May Festival with the Chester Cup, Chester Vase and Cheshire Oaks. It is part of Chester Race Company, which also runs the Bangor-on-Dee and Musselburgh racecourses, the Horseradish catering business, the on-site Holiday Inn Express and the Commonhall Social bar in Chester. Alongside racedays it earns money from hospitality, conferences, corporate events, weddings and concerts.
Who owns Chester Racecourse?
Chester Race Company Limited has no person with significant control recorded at Companies House.
How much does Chester Racecourse make?
Chester Race Company Limited reported turnover of £38m in the year to December 2024. It filed a pre-tax profit of £0.6m.
How many people work at Chester Racecourse?
Chester Race Company Limited reported 164 employees in the year to December 2024.
Who runs Chester Racecourse?
The Companies House register lists 8 current officers for Chester Race Company Limited. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from Chester Race Company Limited's filings at Companies House, company number 00037600, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are group accounts: they include the companies it owns.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Chester Racecourse: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 28 September 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/chester-racecourse/. Figures from Companies House filings for CHESTER RACE COMPANY LIMITED (00037600).
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