April 29, 2021
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s (MCEC) Chief Operating Officer Leighton Wood will retire from the role in July after 10 years with the convention centre.
MCEC’s Chief Executive Peter King praised Wood’s successes while in the role.
“Under Leighton’s leadership, MCEC has achieved record revenue and customer satisfaction results, he is a leader that puts his people first and has great respect within our business and the broader events industry,” King said.
“Leighton leaves a significant legacy in the area of sustainability, he has done an immense amount of work to ensure MCEC is a leader in this space.”
Wood said it was time for new leaders to step up in a time of change.
“Our devotion to the customer experience is unrecognisable to when I arrived in 2010.”
“I’ve enjoyed working alongside various and talented Executive Team peers and their high performing teams and I’ve been blessed to have worked with an Operations team of the highest professional quality and culture.”
“The team now needs to reset for a different future, built by new leaders.”
MCEC has reshuffled its leadership team in the wake of Wood’s announcement.
Helen Fairclough who is currently leading the business relaunch in the pandemic era will become the centre’s Chief Operating Officer. Previously the head of People, Culture and Improvement she already has six months experience in her new role, having acted in the position from December 2019 to May 2020 while Wood was on long service leave.
Amanda Wilson, who has been acting in the role of Director of People and Culture, will take over the role permanently, becoming Chief People Officer.