EVANZ announces new General Manager

The Entertainment Venues Association of New Zealand (EVANZ) has announced that Sally-Anne Coates will take over from Lynn Robinson as its General Manager, with Robinson having moved to a full time role with Tourism Industry Aotearoa.

Coates' career started out in the UK as a theatre press officer and continued in the venue industry with a stint at Wembley Stadium before moving to the commercial sector and working for a series of household names in the UK including T-Mobile and Royal Doulton, where she was Director of Marketing Services.

After moving to New Zealand in 2003, Coates had a break to raise her family of four before resuming her career and was most recently part of the team at New Plymouth Event Venues as Business Development Officer.

She is no stranger to EVANZ, having attended both the mid-year and end of year conference on numerous occasions and was the recipient of the inaugural Spark Arena Scholarship in 2018.

Welcoming Coates appointment, EVANZ Chairman Keith Parker stated "we welcome Sally-Anne to the EVANZ team and would like to acknowledge all the work that Lynn Robinson has done for our Association over the past year, placing Sally-Anne in a great position to move EVANZ forward.

"The board and I wish Lynn all the very best. We are sure that we will continue to work with her in her new role with Tourism Industry Aotearoa."

Coates (pictured) will commence the role on Wednesday 28th August