Gold Coast Pubs: The people behind the city’s most popular bars
If you step into a pub in the Gold Coast, there’s a one in three chance it belongs to this power player. Find out the figures that dominate the city’s tavern scene.
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GOLD COASTERS love a drink and a good feed which may explain why the city has nearly 60 pubs - 20 of them owned by just one company.
The coast’s hospitality scene has taken a hit this year due to COVID-19 restrictions but they have weathered the brunt of it and are eager for patrons to return.
The Bulletin has put together a list of Coast’s pubs and who owns them, as well as giving you a rundown of the key companies with a stake in the hospitality scene.
McGUIRE GROUP
(Tugun Tavern and RQ’s Tavern)
The McGuires are operators of Queensland’s largest family owned and run chain of hotels.
They been running pubs in Brisbane and the Gold Coast since the 1900s.
The McGuires say their values continue to focus on the importance of honest value for money in friendly, neighbourly hotels.
They are one of the richest families in the state with a collection worth about $185 million.
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AUSTRALIAN VENUE CO
(Coomera Lodge Hotel, Ferry Road Tavern, Diamonds Tavern Varsity Lakes, Burleigh Town Tavern)
Australian Venue Co (AVC) is a hospitality group that has grown from five venues in 2014 to 157 venues in 2019 and has more than 4500 employees.
The company, formerly Dixon Hospitality Group, say they are passionate about delivering exceptional customer experiences across a national portfolio of restaurants, bars, pubs and dedicated event spaces.
AVC’s annual revenue is more than $600 million.
ALH GROUP
(Surfers Paradise Beer, Norfolk Tavern, Coomera Tavern, Oxenford Tavern, Dublin Docks Tavern, Pacific Pines Tavern, Parkwood Tavern, Benowa Tavern, Anglers Arms Hotel, Broadbeach Tavern, Cecil Hotel, Hinterland Hotel / Motel, Commercial Hotel, Varsity Lakes, Miami Tavern, Dog and Parrot Tavern, Burleigh Heads Hotel, Palm Beach Hotel, Oxenford Tavern, South Tweed Tavern)
The power player specialising in taverns, with more than 300 venues across Australia, has a significant presence with 20 on the Gold Coast.
They include the relaunched Broadbeach Tavern several years ago and a more recently reimagined Beer Garden in Surfers Paradise.
ALH Group employs more than 15,000 people throughout Australia at more than 300 licensed venues and in excess of 550 retail liquor outlets.
HALLMARK GROUP
(Finn McCool’s and The Cavill Hotel)
The Irish Heanen brothers have made a major play on the Gold Coast in the past few years cranking up the volume with new nightclubs Retro’s and Asylum down party strip Orchid Ave.
They also took on the Fiddler’s Green site when it shut and recreated it as Irish pub Finn McCool’s.
This year they completely recreated Melba’s nightclub turning it into up-market pub The Cavill Hotel.
PETER THOMPSON
(Fisherman’s Wharf Tavern)
Publican Peter Thompson employs about 45 staff at the Main Beach bar and also owns a bottle shop at Marina’s Cove and the Can Van – a refrigerated trailer unit designed to quickly chill huge numbers of cans of beer without the use of ice.
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