Hallmark Group eyes Brisbane and Gold Coast nightclub scene

They met while working behind the bar in the UK pub scene but these four blokes now run 11 pubs and clubs in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

From being friendly rivals in the British pub scene, three Brits and an Aussie have joined forces to create one of the most eclectic venue portfolios in southeast Queensland.

Under the directorship of local Scott Hempel and the UK born and bred Heanen brothers — Matt, Sean and Joe — the Hallmark Group is one of the largest private venue operators in the region.

They have 11 pubs, cocktail bars, nightclubs, bar/music venues and restaurants which have had the Hallmark makeover and 300 staff.

From Irish pubs, to jungle-themed night clubs, music bars, pizza restaurants, retro cocktail bars and Aussie hotels, Hallmark is hard to pigeon hole.

Matt Heanen said they strive to create “unique” venues.

“We try and transform existing spaces to create memorable customer experience,” he said.

Last year may have been the toughest ever in the hospitality industry with the forced lock downs and then restricted trading because of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, 2020 was also the year Mr Hempel describes as a “whirlwind tour” with the rollout of five venues.

Scott Hempel with Matt Heanen, Hallmark Group directors at the Lord Alfred Hotel, Petrie Terrace. Picture: Steve Pohlner

In quick succession they took over the Lord Alfred Hotel and Lefty’s Music Hall in Caxton Street, Brisbane, on the Gold Coast they created the Lost Kingdom Nightclub in the former Shooters site and The Cavill Hotel on the old Melba’s nightclub site, before finally snapping up the Spotted Cow in Toowoomba.

But it was not all about expansion with Hallmark forced to close its Jamie’s Italian restaurants in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth with they picked up in 2018, leaving the small format Jamie’s Pizzeria on the Gold Coast open.

And just as restrictions were easing in October their first pub, Finn McCool’s in a converted National Australia Bank in Fortitude Valley was closed after sustaining smoke and water damage when a fire broke out in a nearby club.

Construction workers are on the site and Hallmark is looking at a grand reopening by the middle of the year.

Bartender Kristine Gillingham at The Cavill Hotel, Surfers Paradise. Picture: Jerad Williams

Mr Hempel said while 2020 was tough they remained “pretty optimistic” moving forward with patrons returning and the vaccine rollout continuing.

However, regardless of the ups and down, they have come a long way since their days in the UK pub scene.

Mr Hempel grew up on the Darling Downs on his parents farm just outside of Warwick and not long after leaving school he went on a six-month working holiday.

“That turned into 12 years over in the UK running pubs and bars and what not across the country,” he said.

“That’s where I met the Heanen brothers — Matt, Sean and Joe. They were in the hospitality game over there in competition with the pubs I was running.

“I moved back to Australia and the three brothers one by one migrated to Queensland. We met up and kept in touch and I guess when the first opportunity arose when a site came up in Fortitude Valley which turned into Finn McCool’s.”

After a tumultuous 2020 and expansion during troubled times Hallmark is focusing on its current portfolio but would not rule out further expansion.

Matt Heanen said they were in the “fortunate position” to have had good growth in a tough period.

“While we have this momentum we want to keep moving forward but at the same time not take any unnecessary risks but if something does come along we will give it serious consideration,” he said.

“We quite like southeast Queensland. We would consider the Sunshine Coast or even down towards Byron Bay. To head down to Sydney or Melbourne we would consider it if the opportunity but we are pretty much based here and we like southeast Queensland.”