Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on the future of horseracing, Peter Aldous highlights the importance of the supply chain which extends from racecourses to the countryside and on to licenced betting offices employing people on high streets everywhere around the country.
Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)
I have a confession to make: Fakenham was the first racecourse I ever went to. When I went, it had a chase course that went out beyond the point. Would my hon. Friend agree that the supply chain for British racing extends out of training centres and the courses we know about, into the countryside and studs? Its tentacles go right through towns in this country into those licenced betting offices that are features of all our towns. There are people employed in that wider industry on high streets everywhere around this country.
Jerome Mayhew
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He is quite right. It is not just about the betting offices in towns, but the restaurants and hotels that are supported by Fakenham race days.