Solotel and Morsol merger
Plans are underway to merge the Morsol and Solotel brands, bringing together some of Australia’s leading bars and restaurants.
According the industry news website The Shout, hospitality veterans Bruce Solomon and Matt Moran are now talking about merging the businesses under the Solotel title at the beginning of the new financial year.
The merged entity will have approximately 1500 staff.
Solotel’s portfolio of 20 various hospitality venues in Sydney and Brisbane, includes the renowned Opera Bar and The Sheaf hotel. MorSol’s up market restaurants in the country include the two-hatted ARIA Sydney, ARIA Brisbane, CHISWICK Woollahra and CHISWICK at the Gallery.
They believe the merger will create a dynamic hospitality industry powerhouse.
“We see so many advantages of sharing our industry leading skills and knowledge within our teams across our restaurants, event, hotels and bars,” Solomon told The Shout.
Moran said it would open opportunities across the industry.
“It’s going to give lots of opportunities to lots of people. If a young chef starts in a pub one day he might have [the] ambition to be in a fine dining restaurant and vice versa – I might have a sous chef in ARIA who might want to run his own pub,” Moran said.
Solotel’s Chief Operating Officer, Justine Baker said the future looked bright.
“The key to our business success is that Matt and Bruce truly love what they do, and because we have the best team of people around us every day sharing the fun, with knowledge and dedication. We’re committed to our customer-focussed culture, and see a truly exciting future for the new group – a future we will approach with passion and creativity,” Baker said.
The merger plan comes at a time when Solotel won the bid for The Australian Hotel in the new Central Park residential and entertainment precinct on the fringe of Sydney’s CBD.
That hotel and Solotel’s three-level prestige venue in Sydney's Barangaroo, featuring a bar on the ground floor, a restaurant on the first floor and a rooftop bar, will open in 2018.
By Leon Gettler, May 12th 2016
