A new generation of hotel royalty is stepping up its footprint in pubs, with rich-listers the Roche family consolidating their pivot with purchase of Armidale’s Royal Hotel.
The Royal is the latest acquisition by the Roche Group, headed by Bill and Imelda Roche, who made billions in the 80s through their company Nutrimetics Pharmaceuticals.
Since divesting Nutrimetics they have diversified into property and become significant developers, in Queensland and New South Wales.
Roche Group created the massive Cameron Park housing estate, in west Newcastle, covering over 300-Ha. The company has a strong presence in the Hunter region, including the award-winning Hunter Valley Gardens, and concert venue Roche Estate.
At Pokolbin they hold Harrigan’s Irish Pub, with a large accommodation offering, as well as the Mercure Hotel next door, and also the Harrigan’s Irish Pub at Harrington.
Activity in the area, and growth spurred by evolving COVID-induced travel trends, brought the notion to build a greenfield pub at Cameron Park. This is now underway, with licence granted this year and completion slated for 2022.
The increased focus on the prospect of pubs has brought something of a change in strategy, and thoughts of making more of community-focused regional hotels.
The Roche website states the family’s goals to “set new benchmarks in key industries” and create sought-after communities.
“They decided to buy some pubs located near their other assets and start running them,” explains Xavier Plunkett, of HTL Property, who brokered sale of the Royal.
Armidale is a city of over 20k people, inland from Coffs Harbour, nearly 500 kilometres north of Sydney.
The Roche family have a large farm nearby and spend a lot of time in the area.
They have reportedly paid over $5 million for the freehold going concern at the Royal Hotel, and are investing significantly in furthering its offering.
Vendors on the Royal were a syndicate of seven local businessmen. One of the prior owners’ associates is staying on as hotel manager, under the Roche Group hospitality arm, in the Hunter Valley.
“There are no immediate plans for major changes to the business, however we will look to improve the overall hotel offering with a more food and beverage focused operation, and some management synergies and operational expertise coming from our group’s wider hospitality operations,” said Roche Group executive chairman, Dominic Roche.
Sale of the Royal represents the second freehold going concern transaction in Armidale in as many weeks, following Jim Knox’ move into the Whitebull.
“It’s a quality venue, and they really like the building; it fits in well for their plans,” adds Plunkett.
“They want to be good f&b operators for Armidale.”
