Corporate Social Responsibility

Arena is committed to delivering value to shareholders. In addition to monitoring the performance of the Group in relation to its financial and strategic objectives, the Directors are mindful of the importance of assessing the Group's performance relating to environmental, employee and social and community issues as well.

Environmental matters
Ten key estate management employees, together with the Group's qualified Health and Safety Manager, have worked throughout the year to form and implement the Group's Health, Safety and Environmental Policy. This policy sets out the responsibilities of the Directors, management and employees in relation to all health and safety and environmental matters, as well as the procedures to be followed.

The implementation of the new procedures has resulted in the rapid expansion of the Group's recycling programme. With the introduction of new cardboard balers and glass compactors at Lingfield Park, Doncaster and Wolverhampton Racecourses, and a cardboard baler at Royal Windsor Racecourse, it is estimated that the Group recycled approximately 70 tonnes of waste during the year, and this is expected to increase in 2008 when a glass compactor is also installed at Royal Windsor. The Group will also be investigating methods of recycling plastic and food waste.

Of key importance to the Group was the environmental impact of the development at Doncaster Racecourse, which was completed in the year. The physical works were undertaken with regard to best practice guidelines, ensuring compliance with statutory building regulations and an effective structure in terms of levels of insulation and energy efficiency. This includes recirculation of pre-treated air in the heating cycle, low energy light-fittings, more flexible heating and lighting controls and the ability to lock-down unused parts of the grandstand. The grandstand was designed to minimise the effects of solar gain in the summer and, in turn, ensure that air conditioning was only installed where essential.

Extensive works were undertaken to ensure the most efficient use of local resources. A new racetrack irrigation system was installed, together with new water pumps that draw water from an underground aquifer. The reuse of existing land drainage systems and the minimal use of impervious tarmac ensure free drainage, which continues to replenish the below-ground aquifer.

The old grandstand was recycled wherever possible. Once the hazardous components had been safely removed and disposed of, the remaining structure was put through an on-site crushing plant as it was demolished. This allowed the separation of the steel reinforcement, which was recycled, and the crushed masonry and concrete, which was reused as foundations in the new building. Any surplus crushed material was then sold for reuse in other local developments, thus also keeping transport and congestion implications to a minimum. In addition, upon re-opening, Doncaster's customers were encouraged to also minimise congestion by using the buses put on for the St Leger festival.

The environmental impacts of the imminent hotel developments at Doncaster and Lingfield Park Racecourses have also been reviewed and will be minimised to the fullest extent possible. Arena employed environmental consultants and services consultants to carry out assessments in respect of each project and to report to the respective local planning authorities. The Environment Agency ('EA') were also consulted at all stages and signed off the proposals. The Group has assessed all of the environmental risks of the projects and measures will be agreed with the contractors to comply with local authority and EA requirements. The independent consultants will be retained during the works to ensure compliance with the agreed measures. The designs of both developments also include energy efficiency measures.

Employee matters
The recruitment and retention of the highest calibre employees is of the utmost importance to Arena. Emphasis is placed on the training and development of all staff to maintain high morale and motivation. Two of our racecourses, Wolverhampton and Southwell, hold the Investors in People accreditation standard. The process of obtaining this accreditation at the Group's other courses is continuing.

Across the Group, regular training for all site management and supervisory teams is provided, and they, in turn, are imparting that knowledge through to their staff. A regular review process is in place to monitor the systems and procedures in place, ensuring this development occurs and, in turn, motivates staff.

The development of racing staff is ultimately overseen by the racing Human Resources Manager. Group policies and procedures, including details on the employee appraisal process, are provided to all employees. Each year, numerous employees across the Group undertake safety compliance and career development courses. In 2007, this included two who have qualified as Advanced Groundsmen.

The training and development of catering staff is overseen by a Food Safety and Training Manager and a Projects and Service Development Manager. Together, they have implemented great change within the local catering teams. Standard Operating Practice manuals have been issued to all catering staff, including casual staff, thus ensuring correct standards and procedures are in place for efficient service delivery. In addition, the central catering management team has been instrumental in fostering a 'one team, one vision' approach within the individual racecourse catering teams, which was evidenced by bringing together for the first time the chefs from each site to deliver a fantastic summer BBQ at Royal Windsor, highlighting each chef's regional specialities.

Arena inherently relies heavily on a casual workforce for both catering and racing which differs from race meeting to race meeting. When these casual employees are working for Arena, the Group is responsible for their training and development. The Group aims to provide a high level of training to encourage individuals to work for Arena regularly, enabling the Group to develop them further, thus meeting Arena's objective of providing quality service to all its customers.

Social and community issues
Arena recognises that gambling is closely associated with horseracing and is a popular raceday activity. The Group has taken steps to encourage responsible gambling and to meet the objectives of the Gambling Act 2005, which are:

• Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime;
• Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way; and
• Protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

In this respect, all of Arena's racecourses fully support all on-course bookmakers and betting operators in the policies that they have in place. Arena is supportive of GamCare's work in association with the National Joint Pitch Council in producing a standard policy on behalf of on-course bookmakers. Many bookmakers are now implementing this policy and receive social responsibility training for customer service staff.

Arena ensures that information regarding assistance for problem gambling is available at its racecourses, and that all racecourse staff and on-course bookmakers are able to provide this information to racegoers upon request.

Arena recognises that the consumption of alcohol is also associated with a day out at the races and, with the creation of the in-house catering business, has taken steps to encourage responsible drinking through the implementation of a Group-wide policy. This policy requires all staff who serve alcohol to receive appropriate training, verify photo identification if age is in doubt and turn away customers who are below the legal drinking age or who appear to have had too much to drink. Catering bar staff, area managers and supervisors work in conjunction with the racecourse stewards to monitor the crowds for underage drinkers.

In addition to being committed to the health and safety of its employees, Arena maintains the highest health and safety standards for racecourse visitors. In particular, the new catering business has ensured food safety is a priority across the Group. Each racecourse employs an on-site food safety specialist who has been trained by the Group's qualified Food Safety and Training Manager, who is responsible for monitoring catering staff training across the Group. She ensures that all catering staff receive food hygiene training, including casual staff. The success of this policy is evident in there being no verified food complaint at an Arena racecourse in the catering business's first year of operation, and with awards granted by the local council to all three restaurants at Doncaster Racecourse.

From a racing perspective, the Group's Health and Safety Manager is a member of the Racecourse Association's Safety Advisory Group and ensures that industry best practice is implemented, and indeed exceeded, across all seven racecourses. She also oversees the Group's all-areas access programme to ensure our venues comply with Disability Discrimination Act legislation. Arena takes pride in the success it has had in making its venues accessible to visitors with mobility, sight and hearing difficulties; particularly at Wolverhampton, Worcester and Southwell which remain Disability Symbol holders, and at Doncaster, where accessibility was integral to the grandstand's design.

Future developments
The future will see Arena continuing to progress its corporate social responsibility initiatives. The recycling programme will continue to expand and the Group is seeking to produce its own bottled water; thereby reducing glass waste and the number of delivery trucks on the road. Furthermore, the contract signed for the management of racing operations at Great Leighs will see it operated under the same exceptional health and safety standards as the rest of the Arena Group.