We are delighted to have Greg Ward join us as a judge for the Party and Events Hire Company of the Year category at this year’s Hire Excellence Awards. Greg grew up in the hire industry, joining his family business straight from Rangiora High School in 1985 and working across every part of the operation over the following decades, from bakery and food production to marquee hire and venue management.

Greg went on to lead Continental Event Catering, Marquees, Venues and Event Hire as General Manager and then Managing Director, guiding the business through a period of significant growth, retail acquisitions, a full rebrand, and a greenfields redevelopment of new premises, all while successfully steering the company through the disruption of the Christchurch earthquakes. Under the Ward family’s ownership, Continental became a multi-award-winning business at the HIANZ Hire Excellence Awards, reflecting the standards Greg instilled across the business. In 2016, Greg led the sell-down of Continental’s Events Hire division to Hirepool, staying on as National BDM Events to support the transition and help shape Hirepool’s national events strategy.

Throughout his career, Greg has made a significant contribution to the wider hire industry, serving on the Board of the Hire Industry Association of New Zealand from 2012 to 2016, representing Zone 2 – South Island. Following the sale of Continental, Greg was engaged by HIANZ as project lead to help finalise the APEX Marquee accreditation and training programmes now used across the sector, and he holds Level 2 Accredited Marquee Rigger status himself.

Since 2022, Greg has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch, and previously ran his own business consultancy, providing strategic and operational advisory to clients in the events and hire industry, alongside governance roles including Chair of the Fernside Primary School Board of Trustees.