Spending millions to refurbish his landmark venues has all been worth it for pub barons Brian and Cathy Fitzgibbons

Constant reinvention is third-generation publican Brian Fitzgibbons’ secret to success, as well as installing possibly Brisbane’s biggest wall of TVs and spending millions to meet modern customer demands.

Brian and Cathy Fitzgibbons at the Glen Hotel in Eight Mile Plains. Picture: Tara Croser.

As a wealthy and successful third-generation publican, Brian Fitzgibbons doesn’t have to get his hands dirty any more.

But he still has a very hands on approach to running his award-winning southeast Queensland business empire, which continues to expand and prosper at multiple venues.

Nearly 60 years after his father, uncle and aunt jointly bought the then-rundown Glen Hotel, in Brisbane’s southern suburb of Eight Mile Plains, Fitzgibbons is still adding new elements to the property.

“Constant reinvention,’’ he says, is the key reason his group has lasted so long.

For evidence of this, look no further than the Lily restaurant, which he opened just before Christmas at The Glen, which already includes five function rooms, multiple drinking and dining areas and a 44-room hotel.

The light and airy outdoor space on a wooden deck, flanked by a fountain and green space overlooking a lagoon, seats about 120 in an area formerly used for food prep.

He describes it as “a well-kept secret’’ outside of the CBD, a “city restaurant in the burbs’’.

Diners are told about the backstory for the name of the venue on the front of the menu, which features modern Australian fare such as duck breast, pork belly, steaks and pumpkin salad.

“Lily was the name of my grandmother, who with my grandfather, Phons, started their hotel business in Coolangatta in 1936 and later Brisbane,’’ Fitzgibbons writes.

Owner Brian Fitzgibbons at the Glen Hotel in Eight Mile Plains. Picture: Tara Croser.

“She was a keen gardener and I have fond memories of her tending to her beloved greenhouse in the grounds of the hotel, whilst my grandfather enjoyed a Dewar’s scotch in the bar.’’

It’s the first time Fitzgibbons has launched a full-service restaurant and it follows the recent opening of a new pizza court, revamped TAB and playground at The Glen. A new zone for ice cream and smoothies is on the way, as well.

There’s also an enormous wall filled with multiple television screens for the sports addicts among the clientele. As a self-confessed “highly competitive person,’’ Fitzgibbons believes it’s one of the city’s biggest. “What we’ve tried to do is to cater for the whole community,’’ he says. “It’s been here so long it’s multi-generational.

Indeed, the Glen first started life under the banner of the Bakers Hotel in 1865 and later traded as The Eight Mile Plains in the early 1870s, when it was a stopover for coaches on their way from Brisbane to Southport.

Another change of ownership in 1927 saw it rebadged as The Glen.

Fitzgibbons’ grandparents bought their first hotel on the Gold Coast in the following decade and later added the Southport Hotel, Central Hotel in Toowoomba and the Hotel Daniell in Brisbane.

His brother, Greg, retired a few years ago from the business, which today includes the historic Osbourne Hotel in Fortitude Valley.

Like The Glen, the Osbourne has been owned by the family for many decades and been the focus of substantial investment to upgrade and improve its offerings.

A $5 million redevelopment and fit-out in late 2017 resulted in a large space next to the pub getting redesigned as a spacious beer garden, complete with leafy green plants and glass roof.

Dating from 1864, the watering hole on the corner of Ann and Constance streets was acquired by the Fitzgibbons family from Castlemaine Perkins in 1980.

The Osbourne has quite a colourful history, including a stint as a spot for members of the infamous Painters and Dockers Union to drink in the 1970s. A man was even shot dead inside during that era.

Brian Fitzgibbons

Coincidentally, the pub had been a favourite watering hole for Fitzgibbons’ father during World War II when he worked at the naval stores at Teneriffe.

Perhaps the most ambitious project Fitzgibbons undertook was in 2014, when he splashed out about $8 million to open a 44-room, 4.5-star hotel next to The Glen’s labyrinth of eating and drinking areas and function spaces.

Fitzgibbons has just turned 68 and celebrated by attending Paul Kelly concert with his wife of 25 years, Cathy. The couple have 4 daughters and two grandchildren.

When not focused on the business, he loves to get up before dawn three mornings a week and cycle about 35km in a big loop near the Brisbane River.

Despite reaching retirement age, Fitzgibbons says he is frequently approached by brokers wanting to buy his pubs but he’s not interested in selling.

“It’s more than a job, it’s my passion,’’ he says. “I’m carrying on a family legacy and I get a lot of joy out of it.’’