The people behind York Racecourse: how PJ Staffing creates opportunity and delivers at scale
Long before the first race begins, our teams are already arriving at York Racecourse to prepare hospitality areas, bars, kitchens, public spaces and operational facilities for the day ahead.
We have supported York Racecourse since 2020. During the 2025 season, we recruited and onboarded more than 500 workers and supplied up to 225 people on a single race day including across day and night operations. Our teams work across cleaning, catering & hospitality, and venue operations.
The scale is significant, but for us, the individual opportunities created through our work matter just as much as the numbers.
York Racecourse sees its relationship with PJ Staffing as a valued and trusted partnership, with our teams supporting key operations before, during and after racing. With more than 289,000 people welcomed through York Racecourse gates last year, cleaning and back-of-house operations are critical to ensuring the front-of-house operation works smoothly and that racegoers experience a safe, warm and welcoming & safe environment.
A people-first approach
Our Founder and Managing Director, Paul McCallum, began working in the industry at 14. That early experience has shaped the way he recruits, manages and supports people today.
He communicates directly with candidates, checks their experience and suitability, and gives workers clear information about the role, timings, meeting point and expectations. Depending on the assignment, onboarding can also include health and safety, food safety, COSHH, manual handling and hospitality training.
On major race days, Paul and the management team remain visible on site. They support check-in, work with supervisors and respond quickly when staffing or operational requirements change.
Paul said: “I started working in the catering and hospitality world at the young age of 14, so now at the still young age of 41, I understand how much one genuine opportunity can matter. Our role is to recognise what people can contribute and the value they bring, support them properly and give them the chance to grow and gain confidence in future career prospects.”
Progression and inclusion
The diversity of our team is visible in the different experiences, strengths and routes people bring to the work.
Ethan joined PJ Staffing as a cleaner at 18. Seven years later, he is a supervisor, helping other workers understand their responsibilities and supporting the delivery of busy race meetings.
He recently told us: “I’ve worked many of the roles available at PJ Staffing, from cleaner to bar staff to pot washer. But then becoming a supervisor has meant that I’ve had to adapt and grow in numerous ways to ensure myself and the teams I supervise are efficient and deliver a high quality of standards.”
Ethan’s experience began during a challenging period for the hospitality and events industry. He joined as a cleaner at York Racecourse shortly before Covid-19 changed how teams operated on site.
“We had to adapt to the lockdowns and new regulations to keep everyone’s health and safety at the highest it could be. This also meant our roles as cleaners became more demanding and serious. Being thrown in the deep end like this only helped my skills grow faster and helped me with being able to handle jobs under pressure.”
Theresa began as a cleaner and has progressed into her second year as a supervisor. Her experience shows how workers can build responsibility over time when their contribution is recognised and they are given opportunities to develop.
“P.J Staffing has helped me by giving me the opportunity to work in a variety of roles, to learn and develop, and gain valuable skills and experience. This has helped show what I can do, and proven I can do things out of my comfort zone.” She explained.
She also highlights the importance of communication and teamwork: “Good energy, communication, and a positive attitude, being determined to do a good job, and understanding that we all have different opinions, this is really important when supervising teams.”
For Theresa, feeling supported and listened to is also an important part of a positive workplace: “Everyone is very welcoming at P.J Staffing. Paul is a very good boss, and has supported me in so many ways. He listens to people’s problems, and provides solutions or a different viewpoint if there is a challenging concern. Being listened to, it’s so important in the workplace.”
Mark, who has dyslexia and dyspraxia, found an employment opportunity with PJ Staffing after being repeatedly denied opportunities. “It gave me work, when I was constantly being denied for work at other companies.”
Mark says his strengths include talking to people and working long hours. Technology also helps him do his best work, particularly, as he explained, with: “My phone. With AI, now going in to helping me read and spell.”
He also has a simple message for employers about neurodivergent workers and people with invisible disabilities: “We are people too, and we love to work and solve our problems.”
Diversity in practice
In the lead-up to and during the Ebor Festival, PJ Staffing and York Racecourse highlight and celebrate diversity across the teams, including ability, culture, gender and sexual identity, and neurodiversity.
For them and for us, diversity is not treated as a separate campaign from operational performance, and it is not a tick-box exercise. It is a genuine representation of our communities and reflected in how people are recruited, spoken to, briefed, supported and given opportunities to progress.
A strong team does not require everyone to have the same background or approach. It requires clear standards, fair treatment, practical support and trust.
Delivering the race-day experience
At York Racecourse, check-in begins from 5.45am. Our teams may include day and night cleaners, litter pickers, bar and hospitality staff, kitchen porters, wash-up teams, table-clearing staff, cloakroom teams, supervisors and managers.
Allocations are planned in advance, but live events demand flexibility. Our managers may need to cover an absence, move an experienced worker to a busier area or respond to changing client requirements.
The aim is simple: racegoers should experience a clean, welcoming, safe and well-run venue without needing to see the complex operation behind it.
Gavin Pattison, Facilities Manager at York Racecourse, said: “Major race meetings only work when you’ve got people you can rely on. A strong, trusted staffing partner removes risk, keeps standards high and allows us to focus on delivering a great experience for our racegoers.”
He added: “The PJ Staffing are consistently professional, well-briefed, and dependable. They understand the pressures of raceday delivery and happily get on with the job.”
Annie Claxton, Head of People Operations at Legends Global, said: “The PJ Staffing teams consistently demonstrate a strong work ethic, excellent presentation, and a clear understanding of the importance of customer service. Their reliability and ability to perform under pressure means we can depend on them to support key operational areas while maintaining the high standards expected at major race meetings.”
She added: “The PJ Staffing teams play an important role in supporting the successful delivery of our race meetings at York Racecourse. Their flexibility and experience enable them to integrate seamlessly with our operational teams, helping ensure that everything runs efficiently throughout the day.”
A partnership built on trust
Our valued partnership with York Racecourse demonstrates what can be achieved when a venue and staffing partner plan together, communicate honestly and value the people delivering the experience. As Gavin Pattison explains: “PJ Staffing is an important part of our extended raceday team. Their staff help keep the operation running smoothly and ensure we can deliver safe, well-managed, and welcoming racedays time and time again.”
For us, the next stage is not simply to grow the size of our workforce. It is to create more stories like Ethan’s, Theresa’s and Mark’s, where people are given a genuine opportunity to contribute to society, earn an income, develop their skills and build confidence. Behind every successful race day are hundreds of people doing their jobs, supporting one another and helping create the experience that racegoers remember. We are incredibly proud to be part of that team.