Jane Hastings to succeed David Seargeant as managing director

This is a supplied media release.

Major entertainment, hospitality and leisure operator Event Hospitality & Entertainment Limited today announced Jane Hastings will be the next chief executive officer and managing director of Event, succeeding David Seargeant who will step down on June 30 2017 after more than 29 years with the group, the last 17 of which he served a an executive director. Ms Hastings rejoined Event as chief operating officer in August 2016, having previously held the role of general manager of Event Cinemas (2010–2012) and general manager SkyCity Cinemas (2008–2010).

Ms Hastings will commence in her new role on July 1 2017. The appointment of Ms Hastings is the culmination of an extensive search process conducted by the board with assistance from Hattonneale, following the announcement of Mr Seargeant's intention to step down in November 2016.

Jane's experience in the tourism, hospitality and entertainment sectors spans more than 20 years, having started her career with Air New Zealand as a management trainee. She later spent more than eight years in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan in senior leadership roles consulting to companies including Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Shell, Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts and Mars Inc through her positions at ICLP, WPP, Interpublic and Omnicom Groups. She returned to New Zealand in 2007 and joined the SkyCity Enteratinment Group as a group general manager.

More recently, Jane held a number of senior positions with APN News & Media Limited, including chief executive of The Radio Network (2012–2014) and chief executive of New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) (2014–2016). Jane led the formation of NZME group, merging and transforming APN's multi-faceted New Zealand businesses into a fully-integrated media company.

Event chairman Alan Rydge commented, "we are delighted to announce Jane's appointment as managing director. Jane is an outstanding choice to lead Event with an extensive track record in entertainment and media. Jane's history at Event, together with the strong and capable executive team built by David Seargeant, will ensure continuity of the operating performance and captial discipline David has acheived, while bringing her own unique perspecitve and a continued dynamism to the exciting brands David has created."

Mr Rydge also acknowledged again the extraordinary contribution of Mr Seargteant during his long tenure, commenting "David has been an outstanding managing director whose passion and talent have been instrumental in creating the strong and proud company we have today. We look forward to an ongoing close relationship with David and on behalf of the board and our employees, I thank David for his enormous contribution and congratulate him again on an outstanding career."

Mr Seargeant said, "I feel privileged to have led Event and I'm very proud of our achievements in the past 17 years, a period when the Group has grown significantly and developed several new and iconic brands. i also feel confident that the right foundations have been laid for the years to come. I'm delighted that Jane has been appointed to the role, she is a proven leader and I have every confidence handing responsibility over to her."