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Southwell Racecourse

Foodservice Solutions

Southwell Racecourse offers a unique blend of charm, excitement and comfort, making it one of the premier sporting venues in the East Midlands. With racing on both All-Weather and Turf tracks, it is also one of the UK's busiest racecourses with over seventy fixtures held on site a year. Gratte Brothers was delighted to be appointed to refurbish the foodservice facilities following significant flood damage.

Project Information

Client:
Arena Racing Company
Main Contractor:
Bowmer + Kirkland
Sector:
Leisure
Duration:
7 Months
Services:
Design and installation of foodservice facilities

Scope of Works

In November 2023, Storm Babet hit Britain and in doing so caused severe damage to the racecourse’s facilities, submerging some areas of the foodservice facilities underwater by as much as three feet and leaving many areas including the clubhouse closed due to the damage caused.

Keen to get their facilities up and running as quickly as possible, within a tight budget and in particular, in time for the main racing events in July, Arena Racing Company appointed Gratte Brothers to design and deliver newly refurbished back and front-of-house facilities for the Jockey’s Club and Syndicate Lounge.

The Build

These initial works however were far more than a simple refurbishment and before any new equipment could be installed, our team needed to complete the strip out of walls, floors, ceilings and ventilation to ensure that the renovated areas were food safe and conformed to regulations.

After the deconstruction works were completed, our team began to rebuild the interior walls, cladded with hygienic cladding, screed and laid the vinyl flooring, installed a newly designed ceiling grid system with LED lighting and replaced the existing ventilation system with a full DW172 regulation ventilation system.

Exceeding Expectations

Once all of the builders work elements were completed, our Catering Engineers worked quickly to install our design team’s vision, which included a new cold room, servery counters and bar area, with bespoke fabrication required throughout. All these works were completed within a tight programme to ensure that the areas were handed back to the client in April 2024.

Delighted by our efforts and delivery on site, the client immediately appointed us for further works, with the three mains bars; Castle, Sherwood and Beer Bar alongside the Food Court Kitchen and Fizz Bar, all designed and installed within a 3-month period, allowing our client’s facilities to be back up and running ready for July’s busy calendar of main racing events.

Interior Design

To deliver a warm and inviting front-of-house experience, which matched the quality of the back-of-house facilities, the team at Gratte Brothers worked closely with Hayley Roy and her team at Harp Design. Warm tones, rustic woods, tartan and herringbone fabrics and leather accessories were all selected as a nod to the heritage and traditions of the equestrian sport whilst also providing the perfect level of charm and functionality to ensure that Southwell’s guests feel both comfortable and well catered for.

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