Power 100 in 2022: The most influential bosses in the Gold Coast hospitality industry
Floating beach clubs, incredible live music and rave venues and high-end dining, these are the faces behind the Gold Coast’s bustling hospitality industry. Meet our most influential.
Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
These are the Gold coast’s most influential people.
The powerbrokers, movers and shakers, those at the top of their game, celebrities, entrepreneurs and CEOs who are putting the city on the map.
Our journalists and editors have spent weeks debating whose influence and work matters most in 2021 – and now it’s your turn to read, argue, ponder and share the first instalment: medicos.
Stay tuned as each week for the next five weeks we reveal the most influential in our city’s most important industries: Medical, influencers and entrepreneurs, real estate agents, hospitality moguls and developers.
As we suffered through our second year of the global Covid-19 pandemic the community continued looked to health officials and experts for advice and guidance.
Check out the city’s 10 most influential medicos, 20 most influential entrepreneurs and 20 most influential real estate agents.
Here’s 20 of the Gold Coast’s most influential hospitality bosses.
20. BOB EAST
The chair of Australian Venue Co helped the Victorian-based company be awarded the chance to operate Kurrawa Beach Club last year.
The company’s experience running Port Melbourne’s pop-up Exchange Beach Club helped the them make the most of the Gold Coast City Council’s beach club trial.
The club’s trail has been expanded and will return in late 2022.
Australian Venue Co also operates 10 Gold Coast pubs including the Wallaby Hotel in Mudgeeraba, Burleigh Town Tavern and Coomera Lodge Hotel.
Mr East was the former chair of Tourism Australia and still holds a position of the Gold Coast Suns board.
19. TONY RIGAS AND SUE PORRETT
Nightclub veteran Tony Rigas teamed with live performance art promoter Sue Porrett to launch the Pink Flamingo Spiegelclub in 2019.
The Broadbeach theatre cabaret night spot has hosted many locals and tourists, including Australian film director Baz Luhrmann.
Mr Rigas has owned a raft of top Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach nightclubs over the decades including Shooters, Quest Lounge Bar & Club, Mybar and Love Nightlife.
Ms Porrett is the founder of Varsity Lakes’ Aerial Angels Australia.
18. MARK WILSON
The general manager of hospitality company PLB Group has a sterling restaurant record on the Tweed.
Since Covid hit, he has focused on his collection of eateries and wedding venues.
Mr Wilson, opened his newest venture Lolita’s Mexican Cantina in 2020, to join his portfolio including popular venues Ancora in Tweed Heads and Osteria Casuarina.
17. THOMAS PASH
The chief executive of Rockpool Dining Group has cemented a hold on the Glitter Strip.
In July 2020 the Australian hospitality giant launched the El Camino Cantina brand in Robina.
It joined The Bavarian restaurants at Broadbeach, Coomera and Robina.
16. EMMA MILIKINS
The founder of Miami Marketta has turned a warehouse out the back of Miami into the home of live music and entertainment on the Gold Coast.
Its weekly food markets and shows has made the venue a must visit for tourists and locals. Miami Marketta has become a destination for touring bands, including Spacey Jane and Ocean Alley in recent times.
15. NICK WOODWARD
Since launching in 2016 Rick Shores has become one of the Gold Coast’s hottest dining spots.
Politicians, powerbrokers and Hollywood royalty have attended the beachfront bastion co-owned by Nick Woodward.
The regularly booked out venue, once voted by delicious as the best restaurant in Queensland, is known for its bug rolls that Mr Woodward holds the secret to.
14. DANIEL RIDGEWAY
The chef, who started in his first professional kitchen at 14 years old, has focused more on his in-demand corporate catering business since the pandemic hit.
Once the Gold Coast’s most prolific restaurateur, Covid-19 slimmed Ridgeway’s portfolio. Gotham Bar & Grill and Rivea closed from pandemic restrictions and BiN 72 at Coolangatta is shut until further notice.
Mr Ridgeway opened What a Catch at Pacific Fair in 2020.
The seafood store moved Ridgeway’s restaurant tally to three venues, including Little Truffle Mermaid Beach and BiN 232 at Pacific Fair.
13. JAMES, ALEC AND PAUL CARNEY
Three is the magic number for the Carney brothers.
James, Paul and Alec Carney share their Italian heritage through their three Gemelli Italian venues on the Gold Coast.
The trio co-own Gemelli Broadbeach, Gemellini Nobbys Beach and Roy’s by Gemelli in Bundall.
12. STEVEN AND AUTUMN ADAMS
The steak restaurant game golden couple boldly started Moo Moo down a then-Broadbeach back road over 15 years ago.
The Moo Moo brand founders also have a Brisbane venue in the centre of the city but it will be closed for five to six months due to flood recovery.
But Steven and Autumn Adams have plenty to keep them busy with their Gold Coast venue back in full swing post-pandemic and a successful catering company - Moo Moo to You - busy with functions from outer Brisbane all the way down to Byron Bay.
Mr Adams said Moo Moo to You had catered for everything from luxury car and watch brands, including Porsche, Mercedes and Bentley through to radio announcer and funny man Dan Anstey’s wedding as well as the bird cage at Eagle Farm race course.
“We started Moo Moo to You three years ago and it’s going really well.”
The pair also hold regular fun lunch events at Moo Moo, always with a charity in mind, recently including mental health awareness charity Livin.
11. MATT JEFFERSON AND DAYNA COOPER
The husband-and-wife duo are stepping up their game after a decade in hospitality.
The couple behind Broadbeach’s Orzo and Social Eating House + Bar will be expanding the latter.
In only a matter of weeks Social Eating House + Bar will open its new look venue with a bigger kitchen space and more seating.
10. BILLY AND JACKIE CROSS
The golden couple of Gold Coast hospitality paid their dues on the Glitter Strip with Mr Cross the undisputed king of the Surfers Paradise nightclub and bar trade before selling up in the early 2000s.
Since then, along with hanging on for the runaway success of their impressive juggernaut ManPower – which now operates in Australia, with a nightly residency at the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas and tours globally – their Cross Promotions are partners with Star Gold Coast in the city’s unrivalled rooftop restaurant and bar lounge Nineteen at the Star.
9. OLIVER FROST
Bringing his popular burger bar Milky Lane to Surfers Paradise in 2018, Mr Frost has expanded his profile over the last couple of years.
Teaming with Ironman Matt Poole to create Burleigh’s Maman restaurant, Mr Frost opened a ‘speakeasy’ cocktail bar NAÂMi next door.
Late last year Frost launched Lucia Tapas Garden in Tugun.
Frost keeps himself busy also running The Grass is Greener Festival.
8. TIM MARTIN
Not only is he The Surfers Paradise Licensed Venues Association president but Tim Martin has a slice of the action as an invested partner in the thriving Artesian Hospitality stable.
The Surfers stalwart oversees the bar and restaurant lobby for the visitor hub in his role as president.
He has been a powerful advocacy voice when it comes to safety, government restrictions and better standards.
Mr Martin also rules the roost as the general manager overseeing popular Artesian Hospitality nightclubs Sin City, The Bedroom and Havana R & B – and is often found running his eye over proceedings at its other venues White Rhino, Surfers Pavilion and Cali Beach Club.
7. DAN NORRIS
The Black Hops CEO, along with founding mates Eddie Oldfield and Michael “Govs” McGovern, are continuing to change the brewing game.
Not only have they built their business of beer and taprooms with thriving venues in Burleigh Heads and Biggera Waters, they have set their sights for a large expansion.
The award-winning outfit pulled in $2.2m in just 24 hours, setting a national record for reaching the largest crowd-funding goal for a brewery.
The latest cash infusion will allow the company to ramp up capacity at its main production facility in Biggera Waters.
It will lift the maximum number of cases per day from 1500 to 7000.
6. HALLMARK GROUP
The Irish Heanen brothers have made a major play on the Gold Coast in the past few years.
The trio of Matt, Sean and Joe teamed up with former UK hospitality scene rival Scott Hempel to create the Hallmark Group.
The group took over the iconic Melba’s nightclub and recreated it into The Cavill Hotel.
Along with nightclubs Retro’s and Asylum on party strip Orchid Avenue, they also took on the Fiddler’s Green site when it shut and recreated it as Irish pub Finn McCool’s.
It doesn’t finish there, with the Hallmark Group owning Jamie Oliver’s Pizzeria in Pacific Fair too. The have plenty in the wings too – watch this space.
5. BEN MAY
The Sydneysider’s iconic beachfront building the Burleigh Pavilion changed the face of Gold Coast.
Not a weekend goes by that Instagram isn’t filled with shots from the city’s hottest social spot.
In addition to holding the reins at a Gold Coast tourism posterchild, Mr May teamed up with family members and other stakeholders to buy the McLarens Landing leasehold on South Stradbroke Island in 2020.
The group paid $825,000 via a $1 holding company for the leases to the purpose-built eco-tourism facility and popular corporate party spot.
4. URSULA AND BEN WATTS
The cafe couple continue to be the king and queen of the Gold Coast’s coffee culture.
The entrepreneurial pair haven’t looked back since offloading the game-changing Paddock Bakery in 2017 and applying their formula to the equally well-loved Bam Bam Bakehouse at Mermaid Beach, Custard Canteen at Tallebudgera and Cubby Bakehouse at Chinderah.
They have a long list of A-list fans, including Hugh Jackman and Margot Robbie.
3. SCOTT IMLACH
Not many have ridden the Covid wave as well as the pioneering Kiwi hospo giant Scott Imlach.
Mr Imlach, who employs about 140 people on the Gold Coast, has made Nobbys a go to for a day or night out with The Backyard Cafe, Nightcap and Bine Bar & Dining.
His portfolio doesn’t stop there, also having his hands full with Broadbeach’s Hideaway Kitchen & Bar, Burleigh’s Nightjar and Mr Hizolas and Miami’s Precinct Brewery.
2. MATT KEEGAN
The Artesian Hospitality managing partner has been busy since his arrival from Sydney in the 2010s to oversee the Artesian empire in Surfers Paradise.
Along with their nightclubs Sin City, The Bedroom and Havana rocking, Keegan ushered through to completion the multimillion-dollar White Rhino Bar + Eats.
In recent times he has overseen the creation of Surfers Pavilion and the highly successful $10 million Cali Beach Club.
The rooftop precinct with multiple bars, pools, an outdoor cinema, glass elevator and VIP cabanas has changed the face of Surfers Paradise, with endorsement for Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate and former tourism boss Paul Donovan.
1. PAT GENNARI
The footprint of the undisputed king of Broadbeach hospitality is about to stretch further than the tourist-rich beachside Gold Coast hub.
Mr Gennari has made a name for his Broadbeach stable that includes popular Koi and nearby Loose Moose, Maggie Choo restaurant and the Roosevelt Lounge.
He’s looking to make a footprint on another part of the Coast with his Glass restaurant on the waterfront at Marina Mirage now being joined by La Luna on the Main Beach marina.
Gennari dusted off a long-desired beach bar and dining plan to bring his new venture in January.
The restaurant is an offshoot of The Gennari Group’s upcoming beach club set to open soon on the water in front of La Luna.
Will the Fed push Australia to take the rate plunge?
The coming months will mark a test over Australia’s bet on so-called “dovish” rate hikes.
‘How is this allowed?’: Sunset clause fix not on horizon
It could be years before changes to sunset clauses for apartment buildings are even considered, with neither Government nor Opposition planning any changes soon. Meanwhile, buyers face an uncertain future