The Boathouse Group charts fresh expansion course with new management
The Boathouse Group has been revitalised by new management, which has brought in hospitality industry heavyweights from Justin Hemmes’ Merivale juggernaut, to run the group for them.
The Boathouse Group is a collection of unique and iconic hospitality venues located in picturesque locations around Sydney and on the Central Coast of NSW, Australia.
Four months ago property developer brothers Ben and Jono Isaac emerged as the new owners of Sydney's Boathouse Cafe group, having bought out other consortium members.
The Boathouse Group started life in 2008, but by 2019 owners Andrew and Pip Goldsmith’s expansion, which included acquisition of the historic Barrenjoey House at Palm Beach and a $5 million pub at Patonga, had created financial pressures.
It was reported the business owed $1.5 million to creditors and the Australian Taxation Office had started a wind-up action in the Federal Court to retrieve $868,000.
The Goldsmiths sold the business to a “consortium”, made up of Pip’s father, former federal trade minster Andrew Robb; a northern beaches family – the Sorensens; and the Isaac brothers.
There are currently 10 venues under the brothers’ purview including Rose Bay House (and The Boathouse Rose Bay cafe), Barrenjoey House and The Boathouse Hotel at Patonga.
Expansion is imminent with new chief executive Antony “AJ” Jones and head of commercial and marketing Ben Collis, set to create another Boathouse bar and eatery on Manly Cove.
A new venue is also set for the first floor of the Mona Vale Golf Club and a restaurant and bar in the newly renovated North Wollongong Surf Life Saving Club is also in the works.
The business is partnered with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) at Rushcutters Bay, home of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
In another coup, renowned chef Mark LaBrooy of Three Blue Ducks fame holds a senior role at the Boathouse Group.
“My focus is quite simple – to keep bringing great people into the business and surrounding myself, selfishly, with great talent,” Jones told The Daily Mail. “It was a really big moment for us, to get someone of his level of talent.
“This business obviously has great locations and amazing views, but probably hasn’t put enough emphasis on what’s going on the plate and service.
“We feel that if we can match that to our locations and views, then all of a sudden we’ve got a really next level group of venues.”
Collis says the group is focused on making the business much more profitable, which has included several shifts in focus. They made the Manly Pavilion more of a “casual service style as opposed to being quite regimented” and tweaked the music and lighting to grow the popularity of its terrace, looking south down Sydney Harbour past Middle Head.
“We’ve shifted it to a more casual place where you can stop in for a drink and a snack,” Collis says.
The Boathouse Group is constantly on the lookout for venues that can become part of the communities they inhabit.
“With the Mona Vale and Wollongong projects coming up, these community-based organisations, which have these incredible assets in the spaces that we’re looking for ... they can secure their future by having
tenants like us, having their kids working there,” Collis said.
Collis is also looking at yacht clubs and surf clubs to partner with.
“Some of them are struggling,” he says. “We can assimilate into their community. That’s the thing with the CYCA, Mona Vale and North Wollongong – there is already an existing community that we are assimilating into and providing more value for the people who are members of the club.”
Meanwhile, Jones has his eye on New Zealand expansion.
“Nothing is a ‘no’ until such time as we’ve all had a chance to make an input,” he says.
The Isaac brothers have given Collis and Jones their full backing to expand.
“Primarily, they are not hospitality people, they’re property people,” Jones says.
“Our job is to run their hospitality business. And they are very good at letting us do that. They’ve been incredibly supportive and very trusting in the decisions that we’ve made with their business.”
Jonathan Jackson, 2nd April 2024
