FOR many publicans in Victoria the dream of owning a pub is tougher than they anticipated, writes ANDREW MOLE
It has always been the bloke's ultimate dream to buy a pub, meet the locals, sell a few beers, drink a few beers, and make everyone happy. Right mate?
Not necessarily.
Quite simply, times out there are tough and that most Australian of institutions is hurting.
Last week, CRE Brokers alone had 23 Victorian hotels on its books, ranging from between $200,000 and $2 million.
CRE director Patrick Connolly said business at pubs with nearby tourist attractions, such as coastal or national parks, was profitable, but in more remote settings such as the Mallee and parts of the Wimmera, operators were struggling.
"We haven't noticed any significant decline in trade in the bigger regional cities such as Ballarat and Bendigo, and we put a lot of the rural decline down to drought, which affected confidence in some of the remote areas," Mr Connolly said.
Despite the problems, Australian Hotels Association (Victoria) member services manager Mike Barouche said regional and rural membership was growing.
AHA Victoria general manager Paddy O'Sullivan attributed this to the new breed of operator.
"The growth in AHA Victoria membership could be partly attributed to the increasing number of country pubs being acquired by first-time publicans from metropolitan and provincial cities who look for assistance in running their businesses," Mr O'Sullivan said.
He said country pubs embraced by their local communities continued to succeed, despite the ongoing business challenges.
Population shrinkage in remote areas added to the challenge, although "well-managed businesses with workable debt levels can make a return", he said.
Hotel broker Terry Board has been in the business long enough to have strong opinions about what is going wrong.
"The banks are not lending, people are not interested in the old Australian dream," Mr Board said.
"But it's more than that. Wages, overheads, the regulatory era and a multitude of smaller things, they all add up," he said.
Mr Board cited the introduction of gaming in 1992 as "another disaster".
He said at the time there were 1200 hotels in Victoria and the decision was made to give only 240 of them gaming licences.
Publicans interviewed by the Weekly Times for its Our Shout series, many of them women or young couples, have been upbeat about their businesses, and many say they have increased turnover by as much as 50 per cent.
Most of those were running diverse operations, which included gaming, accommodation and meals, as well as significant investment in local sponsorship to cement links with their communities.
Seasons, the economy and the next few years will show whether that cement is built on sand, or something more solid.
