Arena Racing Company regional director - and former Fontwell Park chief - Phil Bell on Fontwell's Centenary Raceday, talking about the past, present and future for the West Sussex venue.
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00:00 Joined now by a face that will be very familiar to many people around Chichester and Bognor
00:05 and at Fontwell, Phil Bell, now Regional Director for the South and South West for Arena Racing
00:11 Company which includes Fontwell. Phil, back at Fontwell for what's been a grand day, you
00:16 must have enjoyed it.
00:17 Yeah, it's been wonderful to be back. I spent ten years of my working life at Fontwell,
00:26 really enjoyed every moment of it. Saw lots of developments in that time and yeah, it's
00:33 really lovely to be back and see so many friendly faces tonight. It's a real community friendly
00:38 track and lots of regulars here that I've seen tonight. It's brilliant.
00:43 And we're stood at the moment in the Premier Grandstand which of course was one of your
00:47 big projects when you were here. A massive part of what you achieved here. You must look
00:52 back on that with pride.
00:53 We had a very good team of people here in terms of selling and commercial, hospitality
00:58 and restaurants and we were selling all the facilities out so we got to the point where
01:02 we needed more facilities and the decision was made to build the grandstand at a cost
01:06 of just over five million which was a significant investment. But we've ended up with some wonderful
01:11 hospitality facilities, a very good restaurant for 300 people. I forget, I should remember
01:17 shouldn't I? I think it's 14 boxes and a really good ground floor space with a cafe and bar
01:22 and it's for a small track like Thornwell it was as I say a significant investment but
01:27 it was wonderful the company invested, spent the money here to recognise the great work
01:33 that the team had done to drive more people through the door.
01:36 And a good job in a way, they did it when they did because if it had been left and left
01:41 and then Covid came along and made things even harder for racecourses, it might never
01:44 have happened if it hadn't happened then.
01:45 No I agree, the timing, we were lucky with the timing, we were very lucky. You're absolutely
01:50 right and I think, and the good thing is once it's built it's here to stay isn't it?
01:54 Yes.
01:55 And it's now, I think it's been up what 13, I think about 13 years I think?
01:58 Yeah it must be.
01:59 The grandstand and it's a fabulous facility for the corporate people and the local people
02:07 that want to come and have lunch and food here and enjoy a modern facility. Yeah that
02:12 was the pinnacle of my time here really. We had a great team as well, that was the other
02:18 highlight really, working with some really good people, Becky Green and Joliet Moda and
02:23 Francis Sloper, Amanda Austin and Paul Manton, the ground staff, and Roger, his dad. We had
02:29 a really close-knit team that really were passionate about it and you always get a friendly
02:35 welcome at Fontwell, that was the thing that stood out for me when we were here, it always
02:38 felt very quintessentially English, charming racecourse.
02:43 And it still has that doesn't it? Just looking around today when the sun came out, it shows
02:47 Fontwell as it's best doesn't it when the sun comes out and the gardens and everything
02:50 and local people continue to support it.
02:53 They do and I've met a chap tonight from Racing Welfare, one of our charities in the industry
02:58 and he's from Yorkshire, he's never been here and he said exactly what we've said, what
03:01 a lovely friendly welcome, intimate setting, the viewing of the horses is very very good
03:07 because it's such a tight track and the viewing's exceptional.
03:10 It's a unique view isn't it?
03:11 It's a unique view and it remains the only figure of a chase course in Britain because
03:16 Windsor is reopening as a jump course and it was a figure of eight but when it reopens
03:20 it won't be.
03:21 So you've still got that.
03:22 It will still be the only figure of eight.
03:24 And you will know in your role as much as anyone that it's hard times for racing, there's
03:29 a lot of leisure, a lot of different things, wanting people to come through the gates.
03:34 There is.
03:35 But is there optimism for the future both at Fontwell and more regionally?
03:40 I think, to be brutally honest, everyone has to work even harder than they've ever done
03:45 now in the current climate.
03:47 There's lots more distractions now from people coming to venues, you can watch sport on the
03:53 TV and your phone.
03:55 I was born in an era when there were three television channels.
03:59 I dread to think how many are on my TV now.
04:01 It's more than three.
04:02 It's more than three.
04:03 So the competition, watching it on screens, I've recently been fortunate to go to America
04:09 and I was watching a horse race on my telephone from the UK sitting in the middle of Boston
04:15 and it's amazing.
04:17 So you have to work even harder now to get more people through the door.
04:20 And thankfully, with initiatives like Invade, who are bringing students racing across the
04:25 UK, they've brought tens of thousands of students racing to lots of different courses, that
04:30 things like that, initiatives like that, need to be replicated so we keep driving more people
04:36 through the door.
04:37 Because it's just competitive.
04:38 Leisure is, whether it's a day at the cinema or a ten pin bowling alley or a cafe or wherever.
04:44 We're up against all those different attractions.
04:48 So we have to work harder and get plenty of smart people working for us.
04:53 Yeah, but days like today, just show, as I said, show Fontwell at its best and hopefully
04:57 some of those that have come today for the special occasion will be back again.
05:00 Yeah, absolutely.
05:01 It's been a lovely evening.
05:02 The weather's been fabulous.
05:03 So it does show Fontwell in its best light.
05:05 Yeah, it's been wonderful.
05:06 - Last week.