VS Series
Jockey Club Racecourses v Arena Racing Company
Britain's two big racecourse groups, neck and neck
Arena Racing Company leads on turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin and growth; Jockey Club Racecourses on net assets. Arena Racing Company is the biggest by turnover at £249m, against £237m at Jockey Club Racecourses. Arena Racing Company keeps more of every £100 it takes, £6.25 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. Arena Racing Company files group accounts that include subsidiaries; Jockey Club Racecourses files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: Jockey Club Racecourses to Dec 2025 · Arena Racing Company to Dec 2025
Who they are
Jockey Club Racecourses
Jockey Club Racecourses Limited · 02909409Jockey Club Racecourses runs The Jockey Club's group of 14 British racecourses: Aintree, Carlisle, Haydock Park, Huntingdon, Market Rasen, Newmarket, Nottingham, Epsom Downs, Kempton Park, Sandown Park, Cheltenham, Exeter, Warwick and Wincanton.In brief: 14 racecourses across Britain · Cheltenham, Aintree, Epsom Downs · part of The Jockey Club, founded 1750 · racedays, hospitality and venue hireFull profile →Arena Racing Company
Arena Racing Corporation Limited · 07997040Arena Racing Company (ARC) is a British racing group that owns and runs 16 racecourses and five greyhound stadia.In brief: 16 racecourses and 5 greyhound stadia · created 2012 · over 500 fixtures a year · racedays, media rights and venue hireFull profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Arena Racing Company
£249m
Most pre-tax profit
Arena Racing Company
£16m
Highest profit margin
Arena Racing Company
6.2%
Fastest-growing turnover
Arena Racing Company
+11.7%
Biggest employer
Arena Racing Company
533 staff
Highest pay per head
Arena Racing Company
£45,000
Most turnover per head
Arena Racing Company
£467,000
Largest net assets
Jockey Club Racecourses
£101m
Most cash
Jockey Club Racecourses
£10m
The Takeaway
- Arena Racing Company converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £6.25 reaches pre-tax profit, against £1.39 at Jockey Club Racecourses.
- Arena Racing Company is the largest on the top line, £249m of turnover, 1.1x Jockey Club Racecourses's £237m.
- Arena Racing Company is growing fastest, turnover +11.7% on its own prior year.
- Arena Racing Company is the biggest employer with 533 people; Arena Racing Company pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £45,000.
- Jockey Club Racecourses has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £101m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Arena Racing Company keeps the most: £6.25 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Jockey Club Racecourses keeps the least, £1.39.
Financing bites hardest at Arena Racing Company: £9.61 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 Arena Racing Company (£249m), Jockey Club Racecourses (£237m).
By headcount, Arena Racing Company leads with 533 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?
Arena Racing Company grew fastest, turnover +11.7% on its own prior year, ahead of Jockey Club Racecourses (+2.8%).
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?
Arena Racing Company employs the most, 533 people.
Arena Racing Company has the highest average staff cost, about £45,000 a head.
Arena Racing Company brings in the most turnover per employee, about £467,000. 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.
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 Jockey Club Racecourses (Holdings) Ltd
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Jockey Club Racecourses →
Arena Racing Corporation Limited · 07997040No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Arena Racing Company →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Jockey Club Racecourses | Arena Racing Company |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | JOCKEY CLUB RACECOURSES LIMITED | ARENA RACING CORPORATION LIMITED |
| Company number | 02909409 | 07997040 |
| Incorporated | 1994 | 2012 |
| Accounts filed | 26 July 2026 | 30 September 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £230m | £223m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £20m | £39m |
| Staff costs | n/d | £24m |
| Payroll share of turnover | n/d | 9.6% |
| Employees, prior year | 623 | 534 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 2 | 2 |
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.
Jockey Club Racecourses v Arena Racing Company: common questions
Who is the biggest of Jockey Club Racecourses or Arena Racing Company?
Arena Racing Company, with turnover of £249m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Arena Racing Company: £16m pre-tax in the year to December 2025.
Which employs the most people?
Arena Racing Company, with 533 employees in its latest accounts.
Jockey Club Racecourses or Arena Racing Company: which is bigger?
Arena Racing Company, with turnover of £249m against £237m at Jockey Club Racecourses on their latest filings. On margin, Arena Racing Company keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
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.