Elite golf club boss resigns

Changes have occurred at the top of the elite Royal Queensland Golf Club where members are divided over controversial plans to bring in more cash.

ROYAL EXIT

CHANGES have occurred at the top of the elite Royal Queensland Golf Club where members are divided over plans for a Top Golf theme park to bring in more cash.

Well-respected general manager Paul Hinton has resigned after less than two years at the club, whose members are a who’s who of Queensland’s corporate elite.

Royal Queensland president Mark Stanton told members that Hinton, who previously served as general manager of the Royal Sydney Golf Club for more than a decade, would not be required to serve any notice.

Royal Qld Golf Club.

“The board has been in discussions with … Paul Hinton regarding his ongoing role with Royal Queensland,” Stanton told members.

“At the conclusion of those discussions, the board received and accepted the general manager’s resignation.”

Hinton’s achievements at Royal Sydney included five Australian Opens, a Davis Cup, the building of a fitness centre and improvements in member services and utilisation.

It’s been an interesting period for the century-old club which is looking at a multimillion-dollar expansion of its facilities to generate more revenue.

But plans for a Top Golf facility, similar to the one operating on the Gold Coast, have upset some members who argue it would diminish the “RQ brand” and was commercially unwise.

Hinton did not respond to a request for comment on his resignation. Further comment has been sought from Royal Queensland.

HOME COMFORTS

THE financial troubles of the Presbyterian Church in Queensland has provided some rich pickings for Sydney-based MyHomecare Group, which has purchased the church’s home care operations for an undisclosed amount.

MyHomecare Group, which includes Quadrant Private Equity as one of its key investors, will take on more than 4000 clients and 280 staff from PresCare, which also is in the process of selling its aged care homes across Queensland.

MyHomecare chief marketing officer David Coutts says the business, which operates from Brisbane to Cairns, provides meals, nursing and gardening services for predominantly aged clients, allowing them to stay in their homes for longer.

Coutts says myHomecare is integrating the business into its own operations and will rename it, a process that will probably take about six months.

Prescare’s Townsville facility,

He says the acquisition gave myHomecare greater national coverage, particularly in regional Queensland where it previously did not have a presence.

MyHomecare Group chief executive Stuart Miller says the sector is facing major challenges including shifts in consumer expectations and changes to funding and compliance.

“As the main consumers of homecare services shift from the ‘silent majority’ World War II generation to baby boomers, people want to stay at home longer, and their expectation for the types of services that can be provided in the home are much greater,” Miller says. “No longer are meals, gardening, and nursing services enough. Consumers increasingly want help with technology including setting up smart phones, TVs and Facebook.”

The acquisition is unlikely to end the financial pressure on PresCare, which announced last
year it would offload its aged care homes in Rockhampton, Maryborough, Townsville and Brisbane after racking up a loss of $12 million.

Last week, the church put its hospitality company Contented Chef into liquidation adding to the financial woes of the church’s various businesses.

Contented Chef is a subsidiary of PresCare’s Credere Services Group, which in 2019 reported net liabilities of $24 million. Credere also sells mobility equipment and monitoring systems for aged care patients. PresCare has not responded to a request for comment.

FULL HOUSE

MORE on those crowded seating arrangements at the Gabba Big Bash a couple of weeks back. City Beat readers will recall your diarist was sitting in the southern stand with his son watching the Heat v Hurricanes game when a lady sitting next to him attempted to move to a row of empty seats behind in order to provide a bit more “social distancing.”

She was quickly ushered back into her original seat, which was mystifying given the current emphasis on social distancing.

A spokesperson for the Gabba says the venue is operating under an approved COVID Safe Plan, which meant people had to be able to be traced to their specific seats. “The success of these measures relies on the cooperation of spectators,” the spokesperson says. “Allocated seating is vitally essential if the need for contact tracing arises.”