Former NZME chief executive Jane Hastings' new role

Jane Hastings has led the transformation and integration of NZME.

Former NZME chief executive Jane Hastings is heading across the ditch to take on the role of chief operating officer for Event Hospitality and Entertainment in Sydney.

Hastings led the transformation and integration of NZME - owner of the NZ Herald, NewstalkZB, GrabOne, ZM, The Hits and a raft of other entertainment radio brands - since September 2014 as well as orchestrating the move of the company into its new state of the art multi-purpose newsroom on Graham Street.

Having been with the business since May 2012, Hastings said she was looking forward to returning to Event where she previously worked.

"The company, scale and breadth of this role in industries I am passionate about, made it an easy decision," she said. "[They] are leaders in the entertainment and hospitality industries driven by a talented group of people. I cannot wait to get started."

Event Hospitality and Entertainment is an Australian company founded in 1910, which owns 54 hotels and 142 cinemas including the Rydges Hotel chain and Event cinemas.

Michael Boggs who took over as NZME chief executive, said he was happy for Hastings and looked forward to seeing how things progressed.

"It's a really exciting opportunity for her and I look forward to her being a customer of ours and us being a customer of her," Boggs said. "She's a neat person to be involved with and it's great that the connections are going to continue."

Hastings and her family would be relocating back to Sydney for the role, which she will start in August. Prior to joining what was then APN, Hastings worked at Event managing the entertainment side of the business.

"It is a big step up," Hastings said. "I love the entertainment side of the business, and now I get to be across the hospitality side as well so I'm really delighted," she said. "When you get the opportunity to be invited back into a business in a much larger capacity - it's an honour and quite humbling."

In the meantime Hastings said she was keeping busy with speaking engagements but was looking forward to the new role.