Matthew Lazarus-Hall Steps Down As CEO Of Chugg Entertainment

The long-time chief executive and co-director of Chugg Entertainment, Matthew Lazarus-Hall, will step down from his role to pursue a role as a consultant, through which he will continue to work with the music-industry powerhouse, it has been announced.

In a statement, executive chairman Michael Chugg explained that the decision was an amicable one, and although Lazarus-Hall's position would not be directly replaced (Chugg himself will run touring operations with Touring GM Susan Heymann, while Chugg Music and affiliated festivals will be unaffected), the departing CEO would still maintain ties to the business with which he started in 2004.

"Matthew has been an incredible business partner for the last decade; his vision for what Chugg Entertainment could become has seen the business grow significantly since he joined me in 2004," Chugg said of Lazarus-Hall. "Many of the great things we've achieved would not have been possible without him.

"While Matthew is stepping back, we have an incredible team at Chugg Entertainment and Chugg Music and an outstanding group of business partners that will continue to see the business go from strength to strength. I look forward to continuing to work alongside Matthew as he consults back to the business in the future."

Chugg's sentiments were shared by Heymann, who added: "Having been in the business since before Matthew joined the team, I have seen firsthand what an impact he's had and how much he's grown this company. The entire team has enormous respect for Matthew as a leader [and] we are sad to see him go, but we are excited for the next chapter of the business."

In addition to his consultancy role, Lazarus-Hall will continue to run the CMC Rocks festival operations in Queensland, as well as maintaining his leadership and operational role with Laneway Festival around the country and in New Zealand and Singapore, in addition to involving himself in other Chugg Entertainment specialist projects.

"It's been a big 11 years at Chugg Entertainment and it's never been dull," he said in a statement. "Together, we have come leaps and bounds from where we began.

"When I started with the business, I had a clear vision of what it could become and what I hoped to achieve in my time with the company, and that has been accomplished. I'm incredibly proud of the people that I have been on this journey with, and in seeing them grow. The team is fantastic and I'm confident that they will continue to do great work for years to come.

"I'm excited to continue working on the festival business; in a time where this part of the market is really doing it tough, this year, our two major festival properties have seen their best sales yet."

Lazarus-Hall will make the leap from chief executive to consultant in March.