Re-elected as chairman for the fourth time on November 2, he has spent 15 years on the trust, and said this week "catch-up" work would begin on the trust’s accommodation.
Eight rooms in the Pacific Wing at the Thames St hotel would be refurbished over the busy summer months. A further two rooms in the historic wing of the Victorian-era hotel would be updated later. The refurbishment comes as the trust reports its
best position for years.Established in 1961, the trust lost its monopoly on the sale and supply of liquor in its area in 1992. But the trust began to languish about 2008.
The trust’s Northstar restaurant and bar in the North End opened on December 1, 2008 and motel units were opened there on April 1, 2009, at the height of the global financial crisis. In 2010, after the trust posted a $511,607 loss, the Waitaki Ratepayers and Concerned Citizens Association called for the trust’s assets to be sold.
Over the years, Mr Brosnan said, the trust sold assets in Hampden, Palmerston and Maheno; survived the global financial crisis; developed the Northstar, and brought in new consultants in its turnaround.
The Oamaru Licensing Trust (The Trust) is a community owned business that operates in the hospitality industry within North Otago. The trust now owns and operates four establishments in Oamaru — one hotel, one sports bar, one liquor franchise outlet and one motel-restaurant-bar and bottle store. ‘‘We’re at the stage where we have to be continually maintaining what we’ve got, which in the past because of finances we have not been able to do.’’ ‘‘The whole trust, through the North Star and the Brydone, has been well-positioned for the upturn of the tourism market — the bookings we are getting through both our establishments are pretty high.’’hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz
