Last week's annual general meeting of the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society was advised by the general manager, Alex Bruce, that the future continued to look bright for their main event of the year - the three day County Show which is the second largest in Wales after the Royal Welsh.

"We have a first class venue, regularly draw in a very good attendance to a great family attraction - up 20 per cent again last year -and we are all confident that we are heading in the right direction," said Mr. Bruce.

Running costs of the annual show amount to almost £800,000 and are expected to increase year on year as facilities have to be improved, not least for site security and washing down of livestock lorries and boxes.

Other aspects include a major refurbishment and transformation of the Show Pavilion, additional showground security and improvements to the drainage of the site which were first laid over 70 years ago.

Society treasurer, Mrs. Nicola Owen, confirmed that, over the year under review, the society had enjoyed a further period of financial stability. Capital expenditure amounting to some £64,600 had gone on fitting a new solar panel system to the Brithdir Exhibition Hall which was already delivering electricity cost savings to the society, she said.

It was revealed that the society, which has total assets in excess of £4 million, produced a show profit of almost £50,000 and more than £65,000 from it's estates account. The meeting approved substantial donations to the RABI and YFC movement.

At an extraordinary general meeting held before the annual general meeting, the society, founded in 1784, had taken the dramatic step of restructuring as a company, PAS Ltd, limited by guarantee with full charitable status.

Board chairman, Roger Mathias, described this change as one of its most important and far reaching decisions.