Holman Barnes Group has announced the appointment of Daniel Paton as its new chief executive officer, succeeding Simon Cook.
Paton steps into the role after serving as the group’s chief financial officer for the past nine years.
“I’ve really found a home here. The progression from CFO was a natural one, because I’d been working closely with the former CEO on strategy and master planning, and have been part of implementing that strategy,” Paton told Club Management.
Paton takes over at a pivotal time for the group, with major projects in the pipeline. These include an expanded food and beverage precinct at the Markets Club, which is on track for a Christmas completion; a complete upgrade of Croydon Sports Club; and the long-awaited return of a registered club to the Balmain Leagues Club site as part of the new Rozelle Village.
There’s also an ambitious plan to redevelop the Wests Ashfield headquarters that will deliver new function spaces and the group’s first hotel.
“We’ve got a progressive board that is keen to get these projects underway and give a new offering to our patrons,” Paton said.
“Function space is something we’ve needed to improve on for a long time, and it’ll bring in a new demographic.”
Paton takes on the CEO role at a time when the board and management team have undergone a significant refresh.
“I really feel this sense of needing to push forward with our projects and our standards. I really want us to uplift our standards and be the industry best practice, and that’s something I’m driving with our staff, particularly our management team,” Paton said.
“We’ve got a relatively new management team, and it’s fantastic because they’re all individually highly credentialed, but bringing them together as a team is something I’m really proud of.”
Historic football partnership
Paton’s tenure as CEO has started with one of the group’s most significant community sports investments to date, a landmark partnership between Wests Ashfield and APIA Leichhardt Football Club.
The agreement sees Wests Ashfield take an equity stake in APIA Leichardt Football Club and become the major sponsor of WESTS APIA FC for the next three to five years. The co-branded team will compete in the inaugural National Second Tier (NST) competition, officially known as the Australian Championship, from October 2025.
“This new APIA agreement is just so exciting. I really want our community focus to ramp up because the community is at the core of everything we do,” Paton said.
He added the APIA partnership is a natural extension of the group’s strong community and sporting focus, which also includes ownership stakes and support for rugby league through the Wests Tigers, Wests Magpies, and Balmain Tigers.
“It’s pretty historic in terms of going cross code, and certainly another focus for us where we’d be happy to expand further.”
In the past 12 months alone, the group has contributed more than $2 million in support across 33 intra-clubs, according to Paton.