Inside ex-Merivale exec’s plans to revamp Sydney dining empire Boathouse Group

Chief executive of Sydney dining empire Boathouse Group, Antony Jones, says the hospitality group is considering expanding its portfolio of waterfront cafes and restaurants into other states outside NSW, as it looks to double revenue in five years.

Jones, who has spent more than a decade of his career at Justin Hemmes’ pub group Merivale, was in February appointed CEO of the Boathouse Group, which collapsed four years ago owing $21.5 million to over 500 creditors.

The Boathouse Group’s new chief executive and co-owner, Antony Jones, brings more than a decade of experience at Merivale.

“I was ready to move onto something else,” said Jones, who was previously chief commercial officer at Merivale, and who now presides over a portfolio of 10 venues spanning Boathouse Balmoral, Barrenjoey House in Palm Beach and Manly Pavilion.

“Honing my skills and also being the age that I am – I’m about to turn 50 – I was of the view that I would be very comfortable and happy working at Merivale for the rest of my career,” he said. “But I had that little burning desire inside me to go, ‘maybe I can leave a legacy for my family and kids’ … to grow somewhat of an empire.”

The Boathouse Group was established by Andrew and Pip Goldsmith, who started with Boathouse Palm Beach in 2008 and added several more seaside venues over the years. It collapsed in 2019 before being rescued by a syndicate that included Sydney property brothers Ben and Jono Isaac, Pip’s father and former trade minister Andrew Robb and his wife Maureen, and Sydney’s Sorensen family, who hold a majority stake in the business. Jones and Ben Isaac are poised to purchase the Sorensens’ holdings in the business for an undisclosed sum, meaning Jones becomes a minority shareholder.

“Quite frankly and transparently, I was looking into whether or not I could have ownership in a business, and that was part of the driver to be able to move over,” Jones said.

On top of its deepening presence in Sydney’s eastern suburbs via a recent partnership with Rushcutters Bay’s Cruising Yacht Club, the hospitality group is preparing to unveil two new venues in Wollongong and Mona Vale Golf Club in March next year.

A further two venues are in the pipeline – one in Terrey Hills, next to Ku-ring-gai and another in western Sydney’s Austral – representing a shift from Boathouse Group’s traditional stomping ground of the northern beaches as Jones also contemplates setting up shop outside of NSW.

“We need to just diversify a little bit and broaden our offers. Interstate’s a consideration for us.”

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia CEO Justine Kirkjian and Boathouse Group CEO Antony Jones, The Boathouse Group partnered to launch a new waterfront restaurant at the CYCA in Rushcutters Bay.Credit: Louie Douvis

Every venue is currently profitable, according to Jones, who says the group’s total revenue is about $60 million. He aims to bring this to $150 million with as many as 20 venues within five years.

Jones has spent the past 10 months using his commercial experience to overhaul Boathouse Group’s legacy systems and operations with a key focus on introducing new technologies that will provide insights into customer dining habits and generate higher revenue.

“I’m interested in the data that sits behind it,” Jones said of the tap-order-pay QR code beacon on the table.

“Does spend per head go up? Does frequency go up? Do we need to improve portion size? All these data points that you’ve got to consider – it’s not literally just the food on the plate.”

Another former Merivale executive, Ben Collis, has moved over to head up commercial and operations. In a new approach to customer service that Jones has introduced, the Boathouse Group’s c-suite team will pick up the phone and personally contact customers who have left negative feedback.

“The focus is always on guest experience. It was taken very seriously, and that’s something that I’ve definitely inherited from [Merivale],” said the chief executive.

Jones has also been able to renegotiate agreements with suppliers, including Moet Hennessy, Asahi, Schweppes and Pernod Ricard, who were willing to accept lower prices after hearing of Boathouse Group’s expansion plans. “Every single one of them came back to us and said, ‘we can see where you’re going, we can see the growth trajectory, and we want to invest’,” he says.

Like other business leaders, Jones is concerned about the mounting cost of wages and superannuation and the dilemma of passing this on to consumers. On the other hand, the rising cost of living is not having a major impact on patron numbers. In Jones’ last months at Merivale, he observed higher-end establishments come under pressure.

He sees the Boathouse Group, which he describes as “casual premium dining”, as positioned well for the crunch in consumer spending.

“People are being forced out from the top. I’ve seen it, I’ve been privy to it,” Jones says. “[If] total business generation was a dollar, the portion that comes from high-end dining is very small.”

It’s one of a few reasons that Jones doesn’t consider his new hospitality venture a competitor to Merivale, which he says is 10 times the size of Boathouse Group.

“I don’t want us to ever play in high-end dining. That’s not for us.”

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