End of an era at Mystery Creek Events Centre

Barry Quayle, General Manager of National Fieldays Society and Mystery Creek Events Centre has resigned from his role to take on new challenges after 20 years with the organisation.

“After helping drive growth for the business and economic benefits for the Waikato region, I feel the time is now right for me to step down,” says Quayle.

“Mystery Creek Events Centre and NZ National Fieldays Society are now well established with a healthy balance sheet as well as being home to some of New Zealand’s leading events. It’s been a pleasure to oversee the growth of these two businesses to the stage that they are recognised internationally, and I am ready to hand the reins over to a new leader.”

Into its 44th year, National Fieldays has grown to be a significant event for New Zealand agribusiness. It is the largest exhibition of its kind in Australasia and attracts 115,000+ visitors every year. Annually it provides in excess of $500 million in economic benefit for the country. Fieldays, along with the many other events hosted at Mystery Creek Events Centre, combine to bring around 220,000 visitors to the region.

“I am very proud of these figures” says Quayle. “We have added significant value to the local economy. Mystery Creek Events Centre is also the only events centre in New Zealand that has no local or central government funding.”

Lloyd Downing, Fieldays Society President, paid tribute to Quayle. “The organisation has enjoyed a strong period of growth and diversification under Barry’s leadership. It has a very robust infrastructure, a new strategic direction and is well poised to maximise a number of new opportunities.”

Quayle is looking forward to applying his considerable event experience in the wider marketplace. “Running an efficient and successful event takes a good strategy, solid business plan and excellent delivery solutions. It’s also about knowing what will work. So I aim to apply this knowledge and experience across a variety of opportunities.”

Quayle will remain as Director of Stream EAM Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the NZ National Fieldays Society which specialises in event access management and ticketing.