New boss for Hawke's Bay Showgrounds Tomoana

Sally Jackson, the Hawke's Bay A&P Society's new general manager. Photo / Paul Taylor

A former manager of Napier's Art Deco festivals has been appointed general manager of the Hawke's Bay A&P Society, which runs New Zealand's Royal Show and runs and hosts other major events at Hawke's Bay Showgrounds Tomoana in Hastings.

Sally Jackson, who was Art Deco Trust manager from February 2010 to October 2016, replaces Brent Linn, who has resigned after seven years.

The appointment was announced to society members late Thursday and confirmed as Mrs Jackson made her first steps into the rural environment at the showgrounds yesterday, wearing gumboots.

Officially, she starts on March 12, to perhaps the biggest welcoming party imaginable for the first day on the job, with hundreds of equestrian buffs and their trusty steeds already on-site for the start of the showgrounds' marquee event the Horse of the Year Show.

Society president Simon Collin said the society is excited to have Mrs Jackson involved, particularly with her experience in Hawke's Bay over two decades and managing such events as the Art Deco Festivals.

There had been a large number of applications, including from overseas, and while the successful application was local the appointee was, indeed, from overseas, from Llandeilo in southwest Wales.

She grew up there, and studied hospitality and tourism at university about 100km away in Cardiff, followed by a short time with the Automobile Association before heading Downunder to follow a Kiwi beau about 20 years ago.

She's been in Hawke's Bay ever since, starting with a mainly administrative job with ENZA in Hastings, before finding her real calling as Hastings city marketing manager and then six-and-a-half years as manager of the Art Deco Trust, a position from which she moved to a role managing visitor experiences for Napier City Council.

Mrs Jackson said there's a "huge amount of passion" in Hawke's Bay for the showgrounds, a significantly bigger patch of real estate to oversee than the quarter-acre at Havelock North where she lives with house-husband Rob, and their son and daughter of the show-going ages of 11 and 9 respectively.

"Oh yes, I am a showgoer," she said. "We love the show."

She is excited to become involved in the vision of the society, celebrating its 155th Hawke's Bay Show this year, under the banner also of the Royal New Zealand Show, effectively the national championships in A&P showing and competing.

The vision is based on a long-term plan for upgrading the facilities, and her role will include building on the society's relationships and fundraising for the developments.

"It is a beautiful site (or sight)," she said.

"Having those modern facilities will mean the whole sector can grow. It is all about capitalising on what we have and taking it to the next level."

The events themselves come mainly under the wings of business development manager Hillary Riches, one of four other staff.

The society is hopeful its rights to the Royal A&P Show of New Zealand will be extended to at least 2023, a year before the centenary of A&P Shows' umbrella organisation the Royal Agricultural Society.

The decision on the venues will be made at the RAS annual conference in June.

Once sharing annual hosting rights by annual rotation with four other shows, the Hawke's Bay A&P Show had not hosted the Royal Show for 12 years until it returned to the showgrounds in 2015 under a contract with the RAS and after the collapse of similar arrangements with shows in Christchurch, Hamilton and Feilding.

The show this year will be held on October 18-19, and other major regular events include the Horse of the Year Show on March 13-18, Napier Port Hawke's Bay Primary Sector Awards on April 12, the National Horticultural Field Day on June 28, and the Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards on October 16, as well as weekly farmers markets and other events.