7 minute read
FEATURE: CEO PROFILE
Major makeover
The Central Coast Leagues Club has just completed the first stage of its $450m masterplan with a complete refurbishment of the ground floor and food offerings.
AS THE CENTRAL Coast Leagues Club nears its 70th anniversary, the first stage of its largescale renovation has been unveiled. As the club is located in the growing Central Coast city of Gosford, CEO Edward Camilleri explained that the updated venue will provide for the new residents moving to the area.
“Gosford is just the next big hit area outside of Sydney for growth and there are apartments being built all around,” he said.
Additionally, many of the nearby venues have recently undergone renovations, and Camilleri felt that the club needed an update to continue to compete with other local businesses.
One unique way that the Central Coast Leagues Club is responding to the growing Gosford population is with the business hub, which opened in mid-2023. The club is close to Gosford train station, which sees 40,000 people travel daily to Sydney for work. This business hub provides a hotdesk space for remote workers, and the club is already seeing requests for more space.
“In one of our buildings, we started a business hub. We have a lot of people utilising that today. Rather than work from home, they’re using utilising the facilities that we have for business and hotdesking. It operates 24 hours a day, because a lot of people have head offices overseas. They come here to save their family and use those facilities,” Camillieri said.
Due to its size, the venue was still able to operate during the refurbishments, minimising the disruption to guests during this period.
“Fortunately, the club is very large, and we’re able to move into temporary areas within the building. We haven’t seen much of a downturn during that period,” Camilleri said.
This renovation is the first step of many, with the broader plan for the Central Coast Leagues Club spanning over the next 10 years.
“We’re just going through state government approval for that and we’re getting a lot of green lights for major development, major towers of accommodation and retail and a brand-new club. This $20m we’re spending now is to keep the club vibrant, keep it relative to what the market is,” said Camilleri.
The next stage of the club’s $450m makeover will involve a full refurbishment and expansion of the gaming area, expected to begin in February.
Culinary pleasures
A major change that took place during the refurbishment of the ground floor was the introduction of multiple new food and beverage offerings.
“We have three food areas and that’ll attract a lot of families and new people,” said Camilleri.
The new food offerings are the Seed + Vine café, which offers light meals and coffee in an elevated environment, Peking Garden, a Chinese à la carte and yum cha restaurant, and Wildwood Dining, with seasonal and locally-sourced share plate meals, alongside a dedicated kids menu and play area.
Ryan Smith is returning to the Central Coast Leagues Club as head chef, having previously held the role in 2017. Since then, Smith has worked on the South Coast as head chef for the Rick Stein Group and is owner of The Greens Brasserie, Ulladulla. Camilleri emphasised the importance of quality food for club venues.
“Food is so important with any establishment especially in clubs and pubs to get the food right. It can’t just be a gaming or just a beverage offering. The food has got to be right up there as one of the priorities of coming into a venue,” he said.
Camilleri’s goal with these different offerings was to make the club feel welcoming and homely.
“We’ve themed it around a pub, a pub within the club. It’s got a really nice, open feel, just close together, rather than when you walk in and some clubs have these huge lounges people have to walk through to get to somewhere. This is all really nice, connected,” he said.
A spot for sports
The Central Coast Leagues Club is just across the road from the Industree Group Stadium, formerly the Central Coast Stadium, which boasts a capacity of 20,000 people, making sports a major focus for the club. For the first time, the club has a Dane Drive entryway, which is the street opposite the stadium, allowing easier access to the venue for customers coming from the stadium. The Arena Sports Lounge is also a major drawcard for sports fans, with a capacity for 220 guests and a nine metre TV screen – the largest in the Central Coast.
“When people go to the stadium for the A-League or for the NRL or other events, they will be attracted to come over to the club to start and finish their time out,” Camilleri said.
Following the theme of large-scale offerings, guests can order from any of the 80 beers on tap.
“We have the largest amount of tap beer outside of Sydney, at this stage,” Camilleri said.
In addition, the Arena Sports Lounge boasts large operable glass windows that open up onto urban parkland and the Brisbane Water estuary, which the NSW government have recently invested $10m to reinvigorate.
“It’s a magical spot and opens right up. For the 65 years the club’s been operating, it’s been boarded up by brickwork,” Camilleri said.
Members first
Camillieri is passionate about providing to the club’s members.
“The club is owned by its members, and we’re providing a facility that they will be proud of to come to, to bring their families and friends to, and be part of. We have up to three and four generations of members coming through,” he said.
One such way that the renovations have recognised the members is through a historical project.
“We have done a bit of a history tribute to the founding group of members when they started this site over 60 years ago, and it’s a series of professional photographs that were taken at the time,” Camillieri said.
Camilleri hopes that the new offerings on the club’s ground floor will help bolster the membership numbers, especially after membership losses during the pandemic.
“We have about 45,000 members. We lost people through covid and we feel that we’re going to build those numbers back up again. We’d like to get up to about 60,000-65,000,” he said.
The board has also been incredibly supportive of the changes to the club.
“They’ve been a driving force. They wanted to get change within the business and they knew that they had to change what we offer to the community and that’s the reason why they pushed fairly heavily. It’s been a real pleasure working with a group of professional people in that light,” Camillieri said.
The positive response to the venue has also been seen in the impressive number of job applications to work at the venue. The club went from 90 staff members to 150, and received 300 applicants for roles. Camilleri is proud to be a local employer and attributes the large number of applicants to the local excitement about the renovated club.
“It’s always been difficult, especially post-covid to find people to work. To get 300 people apply for roles has been quite rewarding. You can see how well the renovations are going to fit into the community if the people want to work here,” he said.
