Conferences

Fully Modern Facilities in a Nationally Significant Setting

Wallingford Station, home to leaders in agricultural and political fields over the generations, has witnessed many executive meetings.

In the post-war era Sir John Ormond BEM hosted many meetings at Wallingford for the New Zealand Meat Producers Board, and later for meetings of the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand, both of which he chaired for many years.

Sir John’s Grandfather the Hon. J.D. Ormond was for over 20 years a minister of Parliament and was the last Superintendent of Hawkes Bay. The Hon. J.D. also used Wallingford for business meetings.

Today, the homestead remains an ideal venue for corporate retreats, executive meetings and sophisticated networking with key stakeholders. Hawkes Bay is a short plane trip from Auckland, Wellington or Taupo and we are happy to arrange transportation from Napier airport to the Wallingford doorstep, ensuring your travel is as smooth and efficient as possible.

The largest meeting space can hold up to 40 people, seated. Our formal dining area provides an elegant boardroom environment and our drawing room and sitting room (the Wallingford hall) areas provide practical yet comfortable spaces for smaller focus groups.

Facilities are modern with WiFi broadband internet, whiteboards and an office with scanning and colour laser printing equipment.

We also offer the perfect activities to complement round-table strategy sessions. From team-building exercises to yoga, croquet, an elevated golf driving range, archery, and clay-bird shooting – we can help you to relax or indulge your competitive edge.

Please refer to the following summary of meeting spaces and available activities.

And please also feel welcome to contact us at any point to discuss how we can provide a comfortable, productive executive stay.

Accommodation

There are 13 bedrooms in the homestead. For small groups, private bathrooms will be designated, but for large groups bathrooms are shared.

Meals at Wallingford are cooked by Executive Chef Charlotte Robinson – leading Hawkes Bay chef and ex-private function chef for the United Kingdom Cabinet.

The wings of the homestead offer large bedrooms with garden views, and most rooms open onto the lawns and verandas.

Location

Wallingford is 1 hour and 15 minutes drive from Napier Airport, 3 hrs 30 minutes drive from Wellington, and 1 hr 45 minutes from Palmerston North.

Helicopters may land on paddocks around the homestead, and we have a smooth private airstrip which easily handles Cessna and similar class of aircraft.

The house is set in large grounds amidst 150 year old oak trees and a beautifully kept country garden. Your setting will be in the country, with a young truffiere and 2,200 acre estate immediately surrounding the garden.

The homestead has no cellphone signal. Full signal is available a 2 km drive from the front gate. Many groups find this beneficial.

Testimonial:

Robyn Wynne-Lewis, Founder of Core Consulting

Wallingford provides an atmosphere that is unmatched, in my experience, anywhere else in New Zealand, which is why we bring groups there quarterly.

For our Leadership Development Intensive to be successful, it is important that our clients feel relaxed, supported, and free to be themselves. Wallingford and its surroundings are perfect for this and we have regular breaks so people can go for walks, do yoga, swim, read or sit and contemplate.

The gardens and grounds, pool, Chapel and proximity of Porangahau beach contribute to a sense of space, peace and closeness with nature. I believe that at Wallingford, our clients have the opportunity to find – in a relatively short space of time – an experience of wellbeing which enables them to truly benefit from their course.

Conference Areas:

You will have a choice of three different meeting areas.

Drawing Room

In the drawing room there is space for 20 tabled, or 30 with only chairs. Up front the speaker has plenty of room for themselves and whiteboards or projector equipment.

The adjacent living room is where you will take coffee and tea breaks, providing welcome respite between sessions.

The Drawing Room has native timber floors, and a grand piano made in Paris in 1890. The room has two walls of windows providing abundant natural light. Call us at 06-855-4701 to discuss your meeting at Wallingford

Dining Room

The dining room can comfortably seat 40 at tables with padded Oak chairs.

The long room captures natural light from one end where it opens onto the main croquet lawn.

This setting is the preferred choice for formal board meetings. Meetings held in the dining room may be held in conjunction with meals if desired.

Pool Pavilion

The pool pavilion is a 32 square metre space and a great choice for summer meetings, or as a space to break up your routine inside. It can host 20 tabled or 30 seated with comfortable Sintesi chairs and bench seating available.

Here you’ll have a 2014 new, high-end 65 inch Plasma with surround sound. The plasma operates on a modern in-built computer and it is easy to project your display using HDMI. The Plasma is also “plug and play” capable of playing videos and other media from USB flash drives.

At night the pool and surrounding space is lit up beautifully. With it’s kitchen and bar, the Pavilion is a great location for wine or beer at night.

Nearby Facilities

Wallingford Chapel

Less than 1 kilometre from the homestead’s front door is the Wallingford chapel. The chapel is available for use by prior arrangement.

The chapel has a heat pump providing winter warmth and is ideal for larger groups who wish to do yoga. The chapel is used a number of times each week for this purpose, so they pews are already cleared.

Wallingford Hall

The Wallingford Hall is a 3km drive away and is currently used for exercise groups and local meetings. The space is available by arrangement if your group wishes to exercise together.