Newbury Racecourse has repeated its success of last year, by once again becoming the recipient of a top industry award for staff customer service, it was announced today.

The RCA Excellence Accolades, awarded jointly by the Racecourse Association and VisitEngland, aim to reward those who achieve exceptionally high marks in specific areas of their assessment for the Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme. There are six categories in total covering all aspects of the racecourse experience including food and drink outlets, toilets and signage.

Newbury was the only racecourse in the UK to receive the RCA Excellence Accolade for staff customer service last year and has retained that honour this year, this time alongside four other racecourses. The Berkshire racecourse was also awarded an Excellence Accolade in the Fast Food Outlet category, one of only three racecourses to achieve this.

In addition, Newbury was also listed as one of the top 11 racecourses in England and Wales as part of the Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme (for which the exact order of merit is not revealed). Now in its eighth year, the scheme allows every racecourse to be assessed and rated by VisitEngland and VisitScotland against other attractions in Britain.

The national tourism boards provide a rating that takes into account efficiency and friendliness of customer service, cleanliness of facilities as well as speed, quality and efficiency of the racecourse operation. Collaborating with VisitEngland allows racecourses to benchmark against other attractions, ensuring that standards of customer experience remain high in the face of such competition.

Julian Thick, Chief Executive at Newbury Racecourse, said: “We are delighted that our efforts in making Newbury an industry leader in staff customer service have been recognised again this year by the RCA and VisitEngland.

“The team here has worked really hard over the last two years to try and ensure that all sections of our customer base enjoy their experience at Newbury. Receiving awards like these shows that we are on the right path and inspires our staff to continue placing customer service at the centre of everything we do.”

Stephen Atkin, Racecourse Association Chief Executive, said: “British Racecourses have demonstrated that they offer a fun, exciting and value for money day out when compared to other attractions. We are very proud of the service that all of our racecourses offer and this is backed up by the results from VisitEngland and VisitScotland.

“Our partnership with both tourism boards gives added assurance to customers whenever they visit a racecourse. The results show that racecourses large and small can all compete on the same level when it comes to quality and that is one of the unique attractions of British racing.

“I am particularly pleased for the winners of the RCA Excellence Accolades having been independently awarded a marque for excellence in offering a first-class customer experience.”

“We are very proud of the service and value for money that all of our racecourses offer and this is backed up by the results from VisitEngland and VisitScotland.”