New Forbury Park Trotting Club president Gerald Cayford is the first to admit he is not a ''shirt and tie'' kind of guy.
But that just makes it easier for him to roll his sleeves up and get stuck in.
Cayford (55) was elected as president unopposed at the club's annual
meeting yesterday after outgoing president Peter Gillespie had completed his maximum three years in the role.
Cayford has a business background, with a rendering plant business in Dunedin and Bluff Proteins in Bluff, but also races horses with several trainers in the harness code.
After a meeting in September to change the governance of the club failed to get the votes required, Cayford was asked to stand for president.
''I thought about it for a long time, had a discussion with my boys and my wife [Rose] and said that if I do, it's heart and soul - 30 to 40 hours a week,'' he said.
''Both my boys, Chris and Jase, will virtually be running the companies, so I said yes on those terms.
''Passion for the industry is probably the biggest [reason] why I'm sitting here.''
Cayford has been canvassing members in recent weeks to work out what needs to change at a club which has battled through financial issues and internal squabbles over the past 20 years.
''A lot of thought went into it, a lot of discussion went on beforehand in the last months on where the club wanted to go, who's going to bring them there, who's going to do a lot of the sponsorship, which I do quite a lot of now.''
Members told Cayford they lacked a sense of value for their membership fee, and he hoped to establish a ''clubrooms'' at the track for members to use more often.
''The biggest resource to any club is the members and the members here have said to me... what do they get, and they don't really get anything,'' he said.
''I want the turnover in club membership to treble in the next two years. There'll be a big emphasis on that.
''It's just going to be hard work, but two years of hard work doesn't hurt anyone.''
He will expect the same amount of hard work from his committee, which now includes two new members.
The three vacant committee spots were filled by newcomers, Mosgiel businessman Tony Gow and trainer Geoff Knight, while trainer Graeme And-erson was voted back in to join existing members Maureen Simpson and Martin Denton.
Daryl Trainor was elected unopposed as vice-president.
''The whole committee should work well together - I don't take no for an answer. If they're set a task and they're going to do it, the task will be done.
''If they're having trouble, they'll ring me. I hate negativity and I do work well with staff and that's what makes it succeed.''
The club faces plenty of costs in meeting health and safety requirements, with the state of the old public stand looming as a large cost for it in the next few years.
''It's a big concern for me with health and safety with the companies I've got. The businesses I've got, they're dangerous, and you've got to be on top of it all the time.''
Several events throughout the year - some expected, some not - contributed to the club recording a loss of $3054 before depreciation.
Board of management chairman John Henderson said in his report to the meeting that the loss was disappointing.
''But given the loss of stakes sponsorship from gaming trusts [down $150,000], the loss on the dual-code meeting at Wingatui ($16,411), the distraction of staff from the marketing of the Winter Festival as a result of the disputes between resident trainers ($30,000) and the legal costs involved in those disputes ($10,000), it is hardly surprising,'' he said.
The net loss after depreciation was $114,350.
