The Griffin Report: New NEC boss discusses taking on a 'wonderful British institution'

Straight-talking Maori MELANIE SMITH has taken on one of the most important jobs in the UK as chief executive of Birmingham’s NEC Group. In an exclusive Chamberlink interview, JON GRIFFIN talks to the daughter of a welder and post office worker about her ambitions for the NEC Group and why she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty.    

She’s in charge of the UK’s leading live events business attracting seven million visitors a year to the likes of Crufts, rock concerts and the Tory Party Conference – including world-class facilities crucial to the West Midlands and national economy.

But new NEC Group boss Melanie Smith CBE is not the sort to stand on ceremony. “I come from New Zealand and I’m Māori – we really don’t do hierarchy. When I go home to New Zealand I have to peel the potatoes. When I am in my parents’ pub I have to clean up glasses.”

It’s a telling insight into the workplace philosophy of a woman who has taken on one of the biggest jobs in West Midlands – and UK - business circles as the new CEO of the NEC Group, her latest role on a 25-year stellar CV encompassing executive positions with the likes of Ocado, Marks and Spencer, BUPA, McKinsey and others.

That philosophy extends to getting to grips with all aspects of the business, and even rolling up her sleeves to do stints behind the Arena bars as well as helping cook lunch for her colleagues.

“I do bar shifts, I steward in the Arenas. How are you supposed to learn a job if you don’t do the job? I work with the security crews – Maggie, who runs our cleaning crew, has told me that I need to do a shift on cleaning.

“Maggie is an extraordinary woman with tons of energy. She always has a smile on her face. If you want to know the hardest job in the organisation I think it is hers. I have been up on a cherry-picker with the rigging teams.

"I say to all the colleagues, ‘do you want me to come and learn your bit of the business. Just invite me and I will come, and I do’.”

Melanie’s appointment last September to replace her long-serving predecessor Paul Thandi CBE DL was announced as the NEC Group continued its fightback from the dark days of the Pandemic which had led to wide-scale redundancies as the UK’s hospitality, entertainment and leisure sectors faced their biggest crisis in decades.

But with audience levels now back up to pre-pandemic numbers, the NEC Group - under the private equity ownership of Blackstone since 2018 - is back on course in its stated ambition to become the number one leisure and entertainment complex in Europe.

“The NEC Group is in the heartland of the UK, incredibly accessible and already host to so many amazing events that bring people joy and excitement - from farm shows with tractors to dirt bikes, quilts, Shania Twain, Depeche Mode, Birmingham University graduations etc,” she said.

“We host two-thirds of the UK’s leading exhibitions, more Arena shows than any venue outside London and are home to some of the most iconic UK events including Crufts and the Conservative Party Conference. We are the UK’s leading destination for putting on exhibitions, there is nowhere else in the UK where you can host some of these big exhibitions.

“We are also blessed with extraordinary colleagues who can tackle any challenge, including hosting the Commonwealth Games and building hospitals.”

But this straight-talking daughter of a welder and post office worker – who as CEO of Ocado worked for an entire year without a day off to help steer the online retailer during lockdown – admits that there is much to do in the year ahead, including increasing the “outdoors at the NEC” offering, increasing the focus on the conventions business and “transformative” plans for the NEC Campus.

“We have a lot more we could do with our amazing location including building our own capability to organise exhibitions to fill the gaps our customers don’t need, and significantly increasing the consumer ‘long-stay’ content in our venues to ensure we have visitors coming all year long.

“We also want to work with the city to promote our world-class conventions sites, particularly the ICC, continue to improve the experience at our Arenas and invest in our communities and colleagues around our venues.

“Over time, we also have to develop a broader plan to ensure the campus is a world-class destination for UK and foreign visitors.”

Just a few months into her tenure at the NEC, Melanie, who had never visited Birmingham city centre until she took on the job, is convinced the Midlands capital is a world-class destination in its own right.

“I had been to the NEC before but I think Birmingham is super-cool. Post-pandemic most consumers would rather have experiences than buy things - so if we have a good concert on, we will sell 15,000 tickets to Noel Gallagher or Depeche Mode or whatever it might be.”

Melanie is also keen to explore – along with her London-based husband when her schedule allows - Birmingham’s theatreland and arts scene. “One of my observations about this city is that there is a lot going on.

“The people are fantastic, the welcome I have got from my colleagues up here has really knocked me over. They are very straightforward, very friendly, very welcoming, they tell me exactly where I stand. The business community has been very welcoming as well.”

I do bar shifts, I steward in the Arenas. How are you supposed to learn a job if you don’t do the job?

The NEC Group boss – whose various high-powered jobs have on occasions taken her around the world – says she already feels a strong affinity to Birmingham and the West Midlands. “I think we do a very good job of uniting around things when we need to do things, which you don’t find elsewhere.

“Birmingham is incomparable to London. It’s a lot friendlier, I feel like I am in a different country. To be honest, I feel like I have gone back to New Zealand in many ways. I think this city has a huge amount to be proud of but I don’t always feel the pride.

"We have so much going for ourselves as a city but there is something in the Brummie nature which is self-deprecating.

“We are our own worst enemy because we are not braggy – and we should be because we have so much to be proud of.”

But Melanie has few qualms at shouting from the rooftops about her own pride in the facilities at the NEC Campus which is her new executive base. “We have everything at the NEC Campus, we have a shark tank, we have climbing walls, we have a casino, we have a movie theatre, a bowling alley, an escape room – you name it, we have it.”

With those sort of assets on the doorstep – along with 894 permanent colleagues, over 1,000 casual and zero hours workers and more than 750 annual events across the group venues – the NEC’s new Māori boss is clearly relishing her first executive role in the West Midlands.

“It is really an interesting challenge as a foreigner to take over a wonderful British institution.”

This article first appeared in the March 2024 edition of Chamberlink magazine.

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