A Smart Time to Re-imagine Your Pub or Club: Why January is for Strategy
Posted by Stewart
Why the New Year Is the Best Time to Plan Your Next Venue Upgrade
The busiest season is behind you. The team has worked hard, the crowds have come and gone, and now the focus can finally shift from survival mode to strategy.
For pub and club owners, the New Year is the most valuable window of opportunity to plan design improvements. The slower trading period that follows peak season is ideal for refurbishments, layout changes, and fitouts that will strengthen your venue for the year ahead.
Designing During the Quiet Period Pays Off
Upgrading during quieter months allows you to minimise disruption while giving your business the time it deserves. It also means your venue is ready to perform when foot traffic picks up again.
Smart design improvements can increase dwell time, improve flow, enhance comfort, and create a stronger brand presence that keeps patrons coming back.
What to Focus on in Your Refresh
A successful venue refresh is rarely about one big change. It is usually a series of thoughtful improvements that work together:
Seating layouts that improve movement and capacity
Bar and service areas that support faster, smoother operations
Lighting upgrades that transform mood and atmosphere
Finishes and materials that modernise your space without losing character
Each decision contributes to how your venue feels and how efficiently it operates on busy nights.
Planning Early Saves Time and Money
Starting the design process now gives you flexibility. It allows for proper concept development, cost control, material sourcing, and coordination with shopfitters before construction begins. Rushed projects often lead to expensive compromises. Well-planned projects deliver better results.
Looking Ahead
Your venue is more than a place to drink or gather. It is an experience. The New Year is the moment to ask whether your space truly reflects the business you want to run in the year ahead.
We are all counting down the days until this virus has been contained and it is safe for hotels, pubs and bars to open again. The enforced shutdown has had an unprecedented impact on the hospitality industry, but many of the hoteliers I know are still hard at work trying to make the most of this difficult period. In that spirit, here are a few things that you can do during the shutdown so that you are ready to go, all guns blazing, the moment your doors reopen.
START PLANNING A REOPENING EVENT
Why not add to the celebration and cheer when the restrictions are lifted by throwing a reopening event? We all know successful events take plenty of time and thought, so what better time to start planning than right now?
Just remember to follow the usual rules around liquor promotions. In particular, you must not advertise any of the following outside of your venue:
“two for one” deals and similar promotions;
the sale price of liquor for consumption on the premises; or
“happy hour” or other promotions offering discounted drinks.
Many hoteliers are using this time to renovate their premises without any interruption to their business. If you want to do likewise, remember that you may need:
building approval from your local council, depending on the nature of the works;
OLGR approval if you are increasing or decreasing the size of your licensed area. Note, OLGR is waiving the normal application fees for such applications until 31 July 2020;
OLGR approval if rebuilding or conducting major renovations to your licensed area, such as knocking down a wall within a licensed area or other works exceeding $50,000 in value. The usual application fees still apply to these applications;
OLGR approval if relocating a licensed gaming area to a different part of your venue;
to engage a Licensed Monitoring Operator (LMO) if you need to turn off your gaming machines to complete the works; and
to obtain a new acoustics report if you are renovating an area where there will be amplified entertainment.
Once the ban is lifted, you will probably still need to promote the ‘1.5 metre social distancing rule’ and venues may be restricted to a maximum of one person per four square metres. Other measures have also been mooted, such as that venues should be sit-down only to stop patrons infringing the 1.5 metre rule when queuing at bars.
How would this work at your venue? Can you reposition furniture to keep patrons 1.5 metres apart? Should you seek OLGR approval to increase the size of your licensed area, such as by adding an outdoor area to accommodate more patrons?
REVIEW AND UPDATE OPERATIONS MANUALS AND OTHER POLICY DOCUMENTS
We are currently being forced to rethink the way that we approach our work, and many of the changes we have been implementing may be worth retaining once things return to normal. What new hygiene practices have you put in place; what efficiencies have you developed while working remotely; and how can you incorporate these processes into your post-pandemic operation? This is the ideal time to ask your staff for their feedback and to update your operations manual accordingly.
You might also take this opportunity to review other operations documents such as your risk-assessed management plan (RAMP), staff training manuals and responsible gaming policies, and to update legal documents such as staff letters of engagement and your standard venue hire or function agreements.
REVIEW YOUR CUSTOMER DATABASES
Now is as good a time as any to ensure your customer databases are up to date. Remember also that if your turnover exceeds $3 million per annum, you must comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act and the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme by ensuring customers’ personal information is kept securely and that you have policies and procedures in place to minimise the risk of data breaches. If you have questions on this topic, please refer to my article titled How to protect your customers’ privacy in the digital age.
REVIEW LEASES AND SUPPLY AGREEMENTS
At time of writing, we are still waiting for the state governments to fully legislate the Commercial Tenancy Mandatory Code of Conduct that has been announced by the National Cabinet. However, that should not stop you from opening the discussion with your landlord about rent relief while your venues are closed. Likewise, many clients are contacting us to review their supply agreements and to understand their rights to renegotiate with your suppliers.
FORGE NEW CONNECTIONS AND SOLIDIFY EXISTING ONES
This is a great time to acquaint (or reacquaint) yourself with the local Member of Parliament, city councillor and the local police station. A meeting in person may not be practical, but a simple phone call or even a Zoom conference can help lay a platform for you to work with other people into the future.
Likewise, don’t forget to stay in touch with other contacts – particularly staff who you may no longer see on a daily basis. I am finding that phone calls, and particularly video calls by Skype, Facetime and Zoom, are appreciated by many of those who may be struggling with isolation.
This shutdown may be preventing business as usual, but that is not to say that the hard work has stopped completely. I wish you all the very best in weathering the current storm – and look forward to joining you for a drink, in your venues, when we come out the other side. If you would like to discuss how your venue can maximise this shutdown period, please do not hesitate to call me on 07 3277 7770.
Article written by Curt Schatz (Managing Partner) and Glen Rolley (Associate). https://www.mullinslawyers.com.au/
Before & After ~ Carrollee Hotel ~ Kingaroy, Queensland
Posted by Stewart
The Carrollee Hotel was first built in 1904 by the Carroll family, is a grand two-story building with a federation style construction, typical of the regional hotels offering accommodation upstairs. Despite the original hotel being destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt in 1913 and many of those original features still remain today.
The last renovations were carried out in the 1980s and were a traditional layout with separate bar, bistro, office, gaming room and beer garden on the ground floor.
The first exercise was to identify which demographics to focus on. This followed a survey of all the other competition in town and identifying where we wanted to focus our business, which lead to the final design concept, layout and service. We were engaged to design and upgrade the hotel who also offer advice on identifying the market.
Bearing in mind the age of the building and the obvious heritage features of the building, the exterior was designed in sympathy with the charm of the original architecture.
To improve the flow of the building, the office was moved to the first floor, by removing the walls we created a lounge area in its place. The design also included removing the walls between the lounge, public bar and bistro, the gaming was also extended by removing the wall between the existing gaming room and a small function room, which was underutilised. By opening up the venue, the new design created an improved flow throughout. This also has made it more efficient for the staff to service all areas. All the lighting was replaced with low energy LED lighting.
As part of the realigning the hotel service to what we believe the market expected, the design of the bistro included bi-fold doors to the full width of the entrance, creating a café area between the two main bars and banquette seating to the opposite wall. This was highlighted by wide blackbutt flooring and totally redesigned bars and furniture.
As there were doors between each area of the hotel, removing all the doors and walls has made it easier for our staff to provide service to all customers. By opening up the foyer, creating the lounge area and designing a new cashier counter, the gaming room is no longer separated from the rest of the hotel.
The beer garden roof was lined with natural timber finish and insulated, plus the installation of new café curtains has created better comfort for the patrons from the cold in winter and the hot summers. Kingaroy experiences the extremes of temperate.
As the hotel is over 100 years old, with some non-compliant modifications, we discovered many structural and electrical issues which had to be re-engineered, rectified and certified.
They have already seen a dramatic improvement in business. In the first three weeks after re-opening, revenue increased 40-50% in all areas.
Not only do they have the best hotel in Kingaroy, but the best in the area. Congratulations for having the vision of restoring a great hotel.
