Brittany Higgins and Emma Webster form Power Blazers company; Justin Hemmes loses AJ Jones to Boathouse
Brittany Higgins uploaded fresh photographs to Instagram on Tuesday of a rental pad on the Gold Coast she’s now sharing with her partner, David Sharaz. An item of marginalia for most of the news media, the photos were absolute red meat for the online tabloids, one of which rudely implied that the property, and its designer furnishings, had been secured with monies paid to Higgins as part of her recent settlement with the Commonwealth.
An unkind linkage, perhaps, but who are we to argue? Confidential payouts come with a price, and that price is rampant speculation. Anyway, we digress.
Of greater interest is what seems to have stealthed off the radars, for it’s not just a new postcode at the centre of developments in the life of Higgins and Sharaz but what career moves the former staffer intends to take next.
Strongly rumoured for a time was that Higgins might take up employment with Christine Holgate, CEO of Team Global Express. That suggestion amounted to nothing, it would seem.
Aside from a book that’s yet to be published, Margin Call has learned that Higgins has also been busy joining forces with Hawker Britton lobbyist Emma Webster to start up a company.
Registered in mid-February, the entity calls itself Power Blazers Pty Ltd and lists Higgins and Webster as its directors, alongside Higgins’ father, Matthew.
No sign of Sharaz anywhere on the papers but he and Webster remain particularly dear friends, as he informed the world in an Instagram post last year, confessing that the lobbyist was instrumental in helping him to pluck up the courage to ask Higgins out.
“She’s been our go-to person ever since: from helping me draft an email, to hemming Brittany’s pants. She’s not a friend, she’s basically part of our relationship,” he wrote. Webster’s priors include staffing for Kevin Rudd and Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, but she also became a fixture at the ACT Supreme Court during the trial of Higgins’ alleged assailant, Bruce Lehrmann, during 2022.
As to the function of Power Blazers, Margin Call was unable to establish the particulars, although we hear a soft launch of whatever it might be – a line of clothing? A lobbying outfit? A vaping product? – is in the pipeline.
Here’s to 10 years
A seismic departure from the Merivale empire, with Justin Hemmes losing his longstanding lieutenant Antony “AJ” Jones to the Boathouse Group, where he’s been lured in with a tantalising appointment as its chief executive officer.
Jones clocked up more than 10 years with Merivale before capping things off last month, hopefully with a final Negroni at the delightful Bar Topa.
One account tells us he effectively ran the Merivale operation, although we suspect many would claim to have done the same. At least in Jones’ case he served for almost six years as Hemmes’ chief commercial officer. That definitely put him in the circle of winners on the senior management team, along with a few other enigmatic characters.
Unclear what motivated the exit – no falling out, from what we’re led to believe – but Jones’ new role would seem to be a downshift in tempo, given he’ll be overseeing 10 venues for The Boathouse Group and not a legion of brands and locations, per the Merivale portfolio. Still, who doesn’t want to level-up?
This would be the same Boathouse Group run by Andrew Goldsmith that spectacularly collapsed some years ago owing about $21.5m to more than 500 creditors. Difficult times, indeed, until the business was rescued with a buyout in 2019, funded in part by Goldsmith’s father-in-law, former federal minister Andrew Robb. Not quite the bank of mum-and-dad but pretty close!
Boathouse’s recently-christened Rose Bay operation isn’t too bad, per Margin Call’s sampling of a few dishes on a recent visit. The food was fine – forgotten within the hour – but like so many venues in Sydney, it was a little short staffed. Jones was contacted to say a few words and Merivale declined to make any remarks.
Uncomfortable feeling
Awkward timing for Anchorage Capital Partners as it prepares to begin running David Jones at the end of the month – this after its lesser-loved toy, Scott’s Refrigerated Logistics, was kicked into the long grass of voluntary administration a week ago. We’re hearing DJs’ landlords are somewhat uncomfortable with the retailer being sold off to the PE barbarians at Anchorage after their shabby treatment of Scott’s, less than three years after gobbling up the company.
On the DJs deal for Anchorage are Beau Dixon and Simon Woodhouse, the latter being Scott’s chairman.
The landlords in question include Scentre, Vicinity, GPT and Charter Hall following a 2020 deal to buy and leaseback the DJs Sydney flagship for $501m.
Also weighing on the brain are the numerous PE-owned retailers that have gone into administration in recent years. Who could blame them for having the jitters? It’s a veritable shopping list when one considers the demise of Seafolly, Tigerlily, Harris Scarfe, Dick Smith and Crumpler.
Worth noting, too, is that DJ’s lease liabilities totalled $1.56bn at the last balance date, of which $1.47b was non-current. Meanwhile, lease contracts for its head office premises, the warehouse, store locations and various facilities are on terms ranging from one to 42 years.
Tipping a retailer into VA to renegotiate leases is one way to clear the decks of onerous old deals – not that we’re suggesting that’s on the cards. But who knows? It’s not like Anchorage doesn’t have extremely recent form.
The firm was contacted for comment.
Lofty standards
No surprise that Monique Ryan seems to be falling short of her own lofty standards on integrity and transparency in politics; these are often proclaimed but seldom demonstrated, as her workplace dispute with Sally Rugg seems to emphasise.
It was during their ongoing skirmish that we learned of Ryan’s alleged attempt to broker an off-the-books exit for her chief of staff to leave no “paper trail”, as it’s claimed Ryan said on one occasion. That’s an allegation which could place the MP in breach of the Fair Work Act, because notices of termination are required in writing.
Except now we’ve learned of a second paperwork misstep. It seems Ryan has omitted her appointment as a director of Kooyong Independent Pty Ltd on her parliamentary disclosures. These are required, if for nothing else, to assure the public of an MPs transparency, as Ryan certainly whanged on about in the lead-up to the election.
Also a director is Damien Hodgkinson, a principal at Olvera Advisers, who stepped back from his role assisting the Teals at the end of last year.
We contacted Ryan for comment but received static in response.
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