Crabbie’s Grand National
Requirement
The Crabbie’s Grand National Festival, held at Aintree Racecourse, is one of the most famous sporting events in the world. Aintree has been a British sporting institution since 1839 when Lottery was the winning horse of the very first official Grand National. The Aintree Festival has since become one of the highlights of the sporting year and a total of 22 races took place between Thursday 9th and Saturday 11th April 2015. Over 150,000 spectators watch the event at Aintree and worldwide, approximately 600 million people watch the race on television.
Wernick have provided facilities for Aintree for many years, but in 2015 their input increased by 150%. Wernick Events’ continual reinvestment in new kit meant that this was no issue; this year, half a million pounds was invested, giving them a fleet figure of over 1000 units. This growth, added to careful distribution between depots, will mean that Wernick will be able to supply even more comprehensively to the rest of the UK.
The Jockey Club wanted a higher grade of reliable toilet facilities than previous years, and Wernick were able to deliver this by using their top grade fleet. Wernick supplied ladies, gents and disabled toilet blocks, and a ticket office.
The skilled running of Wernick Events ensured the project ran smoothly, however it was not entirely without difficulty. Depot Manager for Wernick Events, Brodie Shanks, said, “the first challenge was being able to fit adequate units into the space provided, and this was achieved through the building of the West Tip Grandstand structure around the units, ensuring that they fitted exactly. The County Car park had to be redesigned in order to accommodate the new units, and through doing this, we were also able to create a small storage yard for back of house items.”
Carl Pastor, Operations Manager for Aintree Racecourse and the Jockey Club, and is the organiser of the event, was incredibly impressed with Wernick Events, and in particular the Depot Manager, Brodie. Carl said, “Brodie was available at a whim, and was always on site to help out, making the whole process easier. Wernick have a long established history of working with the Grand National, and I have already recommended Wernick Events to other companies.” 2015 saw Wernick deliver their units into a new area for them where we have had testing times in the past with other suppliers equipment but this year they work without issue and were a credit to the event and the paying public’s requirements.
Brodie was available at a whim, and was always on site to help out, making the whole process easier. Wernick have a long established history of working with the Grand National, and I have already recommended Wernick Events to other companies.
