But last week, Mr Sargent was the recipient of an honour rarely bestowed upon an active staff member: a life membership to the Bathurst RSL.

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The honour came as a complete shock to Mr Sargent, who was nominated for life membership by RSL vice-president Ron Hollebone.

"It's a bit hard for me to talk about, as I definitely wasn't expecting it, but it's a huge honour and I feel incredibly humbled," Mr Sargent said.

"This achievement isn't merely a credit to myself but a credit to our wonderful staff and members who continue to contribute tenfold to making this club a premier venue in Bathurst."

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Mr Sargent has worked at the RSL Club for 11 years across two periods, including eight and a half as general manager.

In that time, the club has reacquired the Cityfit building, opened The Grind as a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop and, more recently, purchased the vacant Clancy Motors site in Howick Street.

Mr Sargent said he's immensely proud of the club's growth over the last decade.

"We had just over 12,000 members when I started as GM, and now we have 16,500," he said.

"In addition, the club has been completely renovated and our food sales have almost doubled.

"But the most rewarding thing is we've developed a strong sense of cohesion among our staff, which has created a vibrant, positive culture within the club, and that's hard to put a value on."

"At the end of the day, I feel I'm only as good as the team around me."

"We're a club first, and a business second, but if you don't run it like a business, you won't have a club so we, as a team, will continue to work with the community's best interests in mind."

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RSL Club president Ian Miller said the decision to award a life membership to Mr Sargent was an "absolute no-brainer."

"This is not an honour we give away lightly, it's handed only to those individuals who have made substantial contributions towards the betterment of the club," Mr Miller said.

"To our knowledge, Peter is only the second active employee to ever receive a life membership in the club's history, and he has achieved so much to grow the club's culture, assets and viability."

"There's only eight living life members in the whole of NSW and Queensland, so this is a special recognition that we, as a board, feel Peter is very deserving of."