| Biography:
I’ll skip Navy time other than to say that I married in 1971 and
divorced in 1974 .
The only real
regret I have had in my life. I totally enjoyed my Navy time but I also
new it would never be my life. Took the Whitlam option and resigned,
giving 18 months notice after serving 7.5 years.
Having given notice
I studied Hotel-Motel Management and basic accounting at night classes.
Left the Navy in 1974 and commenced employment with the Cahill’s Brass
Rail Restaurant Group in Sydney as a manager. Stayed there for about 14
months attaining group manager status controlling 3 outlets. I then
resigned to take up a position as Manager of The Hotel Rose Bay. During
this tenure I managed to form affiliations that led to the setting up of
my first business which was the purchase of an old warehouse building in Newcastle , NSW (my place
of birth) and converting that 3 level building's ground floor into a
Wine Bar Bistro. ( the other two levels were left to the pigeons for the
next few years). We ran a restaurant and entertainment venue for almost
four years and finally purchased a Hotel Licence from a hotel that was
being demolished in a nearby suburb.
This gave us the ability to bring the other two levels of the building into
operation as a fully licensed tavern, which we then sold, to a Malaysian
Group. During that time I also set up and operated, in Newcastle , a Theatre Restaurant (Called
Keatons) and a French restaurant called Le Maison above the Clarendon
Hotel. Having sold out of all my interests in Newcastle I travelled back to
Sydney and bought land and created a restaurant in Lane Cove and then moved
into the C.B.D and built a Bistro on the corner of York and Barrack Streets
(Just down the road from the old recruiting house). During this term I
purchased an existing restaurant in Dural (out of Sydney
) and also went into a partnership with D’álbora Marinas
to operate the John Cadman Cruising Restaurant on Sydney harbour. This we later sold to Captain
Cook Cruises.( Huge smile)
During my time in Newcastle I met the son of
British actor Robert Morley, Wilton , who at
the time, was a theatrical producer in Australia . We formed a business
relationship whereby I invested in theatre and he produced. During the
‘80’s we toured The Rocky Horror Show throughout Australia and New
Zealand and also brought to Australia Rex
Harrison, Cluadette Colbert and Lauren Bachall. The Rocky Horror tour cast
incidentally included a bit part actor, who had two small roles, by the name
of Russel Crowe.
I
never remarried until I was thirty-four and during that marriage, because my
wife had a background in the beauty business, we set up a group of French
Perfumeries in Sydney
totalling 5 stores called “Chez Parfum”. During this
time I branched out into hotels, at first buying freehold hotels in Sydney and later on in Newcastle . I was fortunate to build the group
into five hotels and by the end of 1997 had sold out of hotels and as the
marriage was not good went and lived in Italy for 12 months.
On
my return I was, through contacts enticed into a consulting director-ship
with an international company that had the catering rights for fourteen
venues for the Sydney Olympics. This was a two and a half year contract
that calumniated with the closure of the Para-Olympics. I was then asked to
stay on for a couple of special projects.
During the Olympics I met A beautiful lady who was domicile in Adelaide and after twelve months commuting bought an
85-acre Vineyard in the Clare Valley
. We have established a Wine Company and hope to have a label
released at the end of this year.
I have no children and I am currently not married.
I
am currently the chairperson of the Clare Valley Food and Wine Society.
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