HSA June 2023
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P U B L I C A N P R O F I L E<br />
Best of British as<br />
Coulls Family Backs<br />
Port to Boom<br />
BY DION HAYMAN<br />
Ashley Coulls is part of a new breed<br />
that is taking take a punt at the Port.<br />
The new operator of The British<br />
Hotel at Port Adelaide is ‘all in’<br />
after taking over the licence from<br />
previous owner Bruce McFarlane<br />
in September, 2022.<br />
But he admits, it’s one of the<br />
biggest gambles of his life as his<br />
young family embarks on a handson<br />
venture in a gaming-free, family<br />
friendly pub that also continues to<br />
promote live music.<br />
“A couple of mates who were<br />
accountants tried to talk me out of<br />
doing it because it’s not doing great<br />
but there is potential if you can stick<br />
it out,” Ashley said.<br />
“Another mate of mine has just<br />
opened a pub in the city, the Prince<br />
Albert, and he said it’s the best<br />
thing he’s ever done.<br />
“It’s tough but you’ve got to put<br />
the hours in to get the reward.”<br />
NOW OR NEVER<br />
Ashley knows The British and the<br />
Port intimately, having run the<br />
pub as venue manager for almost<br />
a decade.<br />
“When Bruce put the pub on the<br />
market, I thought, ‘oh, okay, I should<br />
probably start thinking about things<br />
because obviously when new<br />
owners come through, it means<br />
new management or they run it<br />
themselves’.”<br />
“It’s tough but<br />
you’ve got to put<br />
the hours in to<br />
get the reward.”<br />
By the time property developer<br />
Hans Ehmann took over The British,<br />
Coulls - a passionate Crows fan<br />
- had moved to the Port Adelaide<br />
Football Club as venue manager.<br />
“It was a tough gig going to the Port<br />
Club and putting on that shirt every<br />
day!”, he joked.<br />
But it was one he would only have<br />
to ‘endure’ for seven months.<br />
“They wanted someone to come<br />
back in and run The British and I<br />
said, ‘Well I won’t come back and<br />
just be the venue manager again,<br />
I’m on a pretty good gig where I am’.<br />
“The way it is, I don’t think it would<br />
have been easy to find someone to<br />
buy the lease of a pub that wasn’t<br />
doing so well.<br />
“But they put together an offer too<br />
good to refuse in taking over the<br />
lease and I thought, ‘Well you only<br />
get an opportunity like this once in<br />
a lifetime, especially with my<br />
financial status’.<br />
"I don’t know if the timing would<br />
ever be perfect.<br />
“I was like, ‘I’ll kick myself if I<br />
don’t give it a go, what’s the<br />
worst that could happen?’”<br />
BULLISH<br />
Ashley knows that doesn’t bear<br />
thinking about but is bullish about<br />
the future of the Port.<br />
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