The Jockey Club, the largest commercial group in British horseracing, has appointed Kier as main contractor to deliver the £45m grandstand development at its flagship Cheltenham Racecourse in time for The Festival in 2016.

Work will start on the development, which was subject to financing, immediately following the end of next week's Cheltenham Festival, after The Jockey Club also announced it has secured all £45m funding required for what amounts to its largest-ever single capital investment project. Around 235,000 people are expected to descend on the Home of Jump racing between Tuesday 11th and Friday 14th March 2014.

The funding package includes nearly £25m successfully raised through The Jockey Club Racecourse Bond – the first retail bond in British sport. The remaining £20m has been secured through a combination of bank financing via The Jockey Club’s syndicate banks – HSBC, AIB and RBS, a Levy Board capital fund loan, commercial deals and the Group’s available cashflow from trading.

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Kier's appointment follows a highly competitive tender process involving several leading construction firms. It has an excellent track record delivering several major projects at Cheltenham Racecourse, including the £17m construction of The Centaur building, one of the largest events spaces in the south-west of England. Kier’s Cheltenham office will lead the development, meaning an immediate positive economic impact for the local area, with many of those who will work on the development living locally.

The development will create a state-of-the-art new grandstand alongside Cheltenham's existing main grandstand. It will include new annual members’ facilities, general public viewing areas, private boxes, a Super Club and the Royal Box. The project will also see the creation of elevated walkways to ease mobility for customers and provide a multi-tiered 'amphitheatre' experience around the parade ring, allowing even more people to enjoy the equine stars at the heart of all Cheltenham's racedays.

Preparation works began last summer with the removal of the circa 1920s 'A&R' block of boxes, replaced for the duration of the 2013/14 season by a high-quality temporary structure that enhances the facilities available to race goers. This has been called the Arkle Stand as part of celebrations to commemorate 50 years since the great chaser won the first of his three Cheltenham Gold Cup victories.

Ian Cheung, managing director of Kier Construction's central operations, said: "We are very excited to be appointed main contractor for this prestigious scheme and we look forward to renewing our working relationship with the racecourse team. It is a challenging project, but we will work hard to ensure that throughout the works the impact on the racing calendar is kept to a minimum. Our racecourse team all live locally and are looking forward to delivering this fantastic facility for The Jockey Club and Cheltenham."

(CD)