Ned Kelly’s burgeoning pub group has taken the deeds to the Belmore Hotel in Scone, in a return to where it all began for the industry veteran.
Built 1866 in the upper Hunter Valley as the Railway Hotel, the pub was renamed the Belmore in 1871, after a visit by the Earl of Belmore.
Some time later, former freeholder and now retired pub broker Gerry Quinlan leased the operation to a fresh-faced Kelly and his new partner.
“The Belmore was my first foray into pubs, taking a lease with Paddy Coughlan,” notes Kelly, principal of Kelly & Co Hotels.
“This will complement our successful renovation and repositioning of the Royal Hotel Scone, almost directly opposite.”
Kelly and Coughlan went on to sell their revived take on The Belmore two years later to the high-profile Young Rich lister Mark Alexander-Erber, aka “Pub-boy”, who went on to a very public collapse in 2008, owing creditors something like $20 million.
More recently in Scone, the Willow Tree closed at the start of the year, following the Golden Fleece, which shut during 2021.
What remains is the Thoroughbred Hotel, at the other end of the world-renowned horse-breeding town, and the Kelly operations, across road from each other.
Sporting a recent facelift, the Royal is set up to be a classic pub in a country town.
Adjacent to a high-traffic Woolworths and BWS, on a prominent 1,555sqm lot, The Belmore features public bar, bistro, gaming room, expansive beer garden and nine refurbished accommodation rooms, under a 1am licence.
It came to market late 2021, and the sale is said to have surpassed initial asking price of $4.5 million.
Kelly & Co aim to set up the two operations to not compete, beckoning markets of families and tradies.
Beyond the pub’s accommodation rooms, which have benefitted from a first-rate renovation, the group holds the motel across the road, and plans to continue the work already done, to tempt visitors to the region.
Vendors were the Brownlee family, who had owned it since 2008 and recently resumed operations after their lease tenancy ended.
“They ran a great operation, taking it over again,” remarks Kelly.
“We’ll differentiate the two pubs more, in terms of entertainment, food and accommodation, and take the Belmore’s craft beer and food operation even further.”
The transaction was brokered by HTL Property’s Xavier Plunkett.
