Prominent local services club, Club Dubbo, looks forward to a great year under the leadership of newly installed CEO, Brett Lane.

Hailing from Western Sydney and an industry veteran of 23 years, Brett and his family upped sticks and headed west over the Blue Mountains in January to take the reins at Club Dubbo.

It wasn’t difficult to make the move, he told Dubbo Photo News.

“As soon as [the opportunity] came up, it was very simple,” he explained.

With wife Amy on board, 41-year-old Brett applied for the role and was successful. They moved west with their three-year-old daughter and are enjoying life in regional NSW.

“We planned to move to the regions but just figured it to be later in life. But once this [role] came up, there was no way I could say no to it,” he added.

Club Dubbo is a premier facility for lawn bowls in the region, but also provides dining, beverage, entertainment, and gaming services, and is an in-demand venue for functions, conferences and meetings. It is also a major employer, with around 70 staff currently on the books.

With significant experience running venues over many years, and three clubs consecutively over the past five years, Brett knows the key to businesses like Club Dubbo is people – those who work there as well as those who patronise the business.

“These businesses are people-focussed, which is pretty important. So, if you look after your people, the rest kind of falls into place,

Moving into a well-functioning business has been relatively easy, Brett said, and he paid tribute to Club Dubbo staff, its board, and interim CEO David Gazzoli.

“The board and team here are phenomenal, and the interim CEO Dave did a fantastic job,” he said.

"The club's been doing all the little things right, which is great and makes it easy for me to slide in."

Brett said the feedback he had received from the community since starting has been encouraging, particularly about the food and beverage services.

“All I keep hearing about is the food here and how good it is. The other feedback is about beer prices but that’s the same everywhere,” he said, indicating that apart from government excise costs on alcohol, suppliers have also passed on rises that businesses cannot absorb.

Brett said the club is firmly committed to supporting local community groups and encouraged sporting groups and community organisations to apply for club grants when they become available.

“I think clubs are notoriously bad at talking about the good work they do in the community, because all of them support [local activities],” he concluded.