Newcastle Racecourse has been forced to carry out a major restructure after being “profoundly impacted” by the coronavirus pandemic, it has revealed.
The racecourse used its annual accounts to reveal that it had begun a restructuring process after lockdown rules forced it to suspend races for almost three months and ban spectators for most of the year.
The company, which operates as High Gosforth Park Limited, explained how lockdown has hit its business in its financial accounts for the year ending December 31, 2019.
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Speaking in the accounts, director Stephane Nahum said: “The 海角视频 onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 has caused a significant impact on the 海角视频 and global economy and, until such time as a vaccine programme is successfully rolled out, the uncertainty brought about by ongoing lockdown measures creates ongoing uncertainty and challenges for the 海角视频 economy.
“The company’s principal revenue streams are dependent on British horseracing fixtures being staged. Racing was suspended for a period approaching two-and-a-half months and whilst racing resumed on June 1 2020, at the time of reporting, this remains behind closed doors at Newcastle Racecourse.
“As a result, the company’s revenue streams have been profoundly impacted by the temporary cessation of racing and continue to be affected by the ongoing prohibition of on-course spectators. Due to these limited revenue streams, the company has undertaken a restructure.”
Newcastle Racecourse declined to comment on the restructuring process, so it is unknown how many staff may have been made redundant during the process. The company employed 55 permanent members of staff last year, while its number of casual staff varied from 118 to 479.
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As the financial accounts only cover the 2019 calendar year, the full details of the restructure have not been made publicly available. The accounts state that due to the on-going nature of the restructure “the cost savings cannot be fully quantified”.
The warning that the racecourse’s revenue figures are likely to be hit in 2020 comes after a strong 2019 for the business.
Turnover at the racecourse increased from £15.1m in 2018 to more than £16.8m in 2019. The growth also allowed the company to make an operating profit of £1.3m, up from an operating loss of £203,000 a year earlier.