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.

Environmental matters

The Group operates a Health, Safety and Environmental Policy which 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 Group Health and Safety Manager oversees the implementation of the policy. A number of specifically-trained employees have been given responsibility for communicating specific areas of the policy across the Group. This policy is continually being updated.

The recycling programme has been a recent focus of the policy and continues to expand. Cardboard balers and glass compactors are in place at Lingfield Park, Doncaster, Wolverhampton and Royal Windsor Racecourses. The Group is actively seeking ways to improve the recycling of both catering waste and stable bedding.

Of key importance to the Group is consideration of the environmental impact of its major developments. To minimise the risk of environmental damage, Arena employes 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') is also consulted at all stages of the proposals. The Group assesses 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 all developments also include energy efficiency measures.

During the redevelopment of Lingfield Park, approximately 30,000 tonnes of soil was removed, of which a large proportion was used to re-landscape the golf course. This has eliminated the need for up to 1,000 haulage journeys to and from the site, and has avoided the impact on landfill of this amount of soil. In addition, numerous ecological and environmental surveys were carried out as part of the planning process, including soil and ecological surveys. This has resulted in various measures being implemented, such as the provision of bat boxes within the new stable lads' accommodation building.

The redevelopment includes improvements to vehicular and pedestrian access, enhanced facilities for horses and handlers, a new entrance building and the removal of numerous smaller buildings around the Racecourse. As a result, a sizeable area of currently developed land has been returned back to Green Belt.

Employee matters

The recruitment and retention of the highest calibre employees is of the utmost importance to Arena. Group policies and procedures, including details on the employee appraisal process, are provided to all employees.

The Group is committed to a policy of recruitment and promotion on the basis of aptitude and ability without discrimination of any kind. All employees and potential employees will be regarded equally and given equal opportunities regardless of their age, gender, race, colour, sexual orientation, religion or belief, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status or disability. Management actively pursue both the employement of disabled persons whenever a suitable vacancy arises and the continued employment and retraining of employees who become disabled whilst employed by the Group. Particular attention is given to the training, career development and promotion of disabled employees with a view to encouraging them to play an active role in the development of the Group.

Employees are rewarded according to their contribution and capability and to encourage them to become interested in the Group's activities. Arena's reward strategy takes into account incentives, benefits, share schemes and non-cash-based awards, as well as base pay.

Employee communications are a high priority and staff members are kept informed through regular management meetings at a national, regional and local level, with staff briefings and notices as appropriate. Each year, employees have the opportunity to meet with their line manager to discuss formally their performance and communicate their views; however, more frequent discussions are encouraged.

Emphasis is placed on the training and development of all staff to maintain high morale and motivation. Arena employs a Group Training Officer who is responsible for overseeing the training and development of all staff. Regular training is provided for racecourse management teams, and they are tasked with ensuring the development of their staff. A regular review process is in place to monitor the procedures in place, ensuring that the development motivates staff, as evidenced by the low staff turnover rate across the Group.

Staff at Lingfield Park are receiving extensive training prior to the opening of the hotel to ensure that they meet the customer service requirements of both Arena and Marriott.

Arena relies on a casual workforce on racedays. 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 customers.

Arena also runs an apprenticeship programme offering training to 16-18 year olds across a range of disciplines.

Two of our racecourses, Wolverhampton and Southwell, continue to hold the Investors in People accreditation standard.

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 Administration of Gambling on Tracks Limited in producing a standard policy on behalf of on-course bookmakers. 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 has taken steps to encourage responsible drinking through the implementation of a Group-wide zero-tolerance 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. The catering business has ensured food safety is a priority across the Group. Each racecourse employs an on-site food safety specialist who has received dedicated training from the Group's National Catering Manager. These on-site employees are, in turn, responsible for ensuring that all racecourse catering staff receive food hygiene training. Standard Operating Practice manuals have been issued to all catering staff, including casual staff, thus ensuring correct standards and procedures are in place.

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 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 Lingfield Park, where accessibility is integral to the redevelopment. All of Arena's racecourses employ qualified safety officers responsible for implementing and progressing health and safety policies.