July 2, 2026 • 12 mins
The Inkster company owns a large portfolio of local pubs, bars and restaurants across Christchurch, and they are soon set to have another pub right across the road from One New Zealand Stadium, affectionally called "The Lancaster".
Nick Inkster joined Canterbury Mornings to talk about his journey from moving out of home and straight into buying his own property with his brother, his time working in Western Australia, and how he got to his high position on the local hospitality scene.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk Z'B.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And Nick Engster's name is synonymous with hospitality in christ Church.
Here and his business partners run eight venues in christ Church,
one of Nelson as well, one of them Civil and Naval,
and Wellington in Littleton is one of my local favorites. Actually, Nick,
I love Civilian Naval also runs a church in town
which went through a ton of beer just the first
night of the big Super Rugby super Round back in April.
(00:32):
And he's about to set up one of the country's
biggest sports bars. And I'm delighted that Nick Eingster is
with us.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Now, good a morning morning John. Now look, I gather,
thanks for the coffee.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
My shout. I gathered that your father always knew that
you would end up running a pub one day. Why
was that?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, look, I just from a I guess from an
early age. I just loved hosting parties around at home.
Mum and Dad would always let us have the friends
around and you would always put a bit more on
than just a few drinks.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Would always have a love live.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
You know, musician in the corner or I made makeshift
bar where people could you know, sort of you know, yeah,
do their thing.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
It was more than just a backyard you know, backyard drinks.
So you know, I just sort of the old man
said to me, you know, you need to build Joe
Bar one day and got the opportunity after the earthquakes.
He passed away, and I thought this was the opportunity
to give something back to christ Church Place.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
I love place.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
O right, Yeah, we'll come back to that. You grew
you grew up in the eastern suburbs.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
You grew up in sort of Linward Dellington.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
What were you into when you were a kid?
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Well, I was.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I played soccer until I was fifteen and then I
went and played rugby union at Lynward Rugby Club. Yep.
And that's obviously how I met the Ordens. With my
business partners today, Richard and Andrew.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And you've you've you've kept up that involved with the club.
You've been a coach there, haven't you.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
You're not a coach. I'm the manager to manage that
did one boys. You're still doing that, yes, seventh season now.
So we've just won the minor premiership with Top the Round.
So we've got the quarter final tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh wow, it's a massive Weekend's the weekend? Yeah? Yes,
so ship? What's bigger that game? Will the All Bax game.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
The Limared game. For me, it's all about the grassroots fat.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
How do you find time for that? You run all
these pubs, you do all the stuff, and it seems
to me you're never sure of ideas for new stuff.
How do you find time to be a club team manager?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, for me, I joined up with the Nortons six
years ago, seven years ago, and part of that was
through the Limited Rabbit club. That's we've formed our relationship.
So I sent an opportunity to give back to the club.
As a manager of Div one, I sort of liked
to do things one hundred percent or not at all,
so I was no good at planning anymore. So I thought, well,
I'm not going to play top grade because I can't.
(02:51):
Old Mars will manage the top grade and just got
involved in twenty twenty and me and a few of
the boys. There's a group of us we call ourselves
Spears and Benter. We're sort of a group of lads.
They're all old Limard boys, we're all business owners and.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
We brought a bus together for the club.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
We're lucky the club let us wrap it in Limod
colors and the bus has been our walker for the
last six years now, and we've paddled to the Grand
Final and twenty four and won it, and then we
were runners up last year in twenty five and.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Tomorrow night I might be screaming around town again.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
You're correct.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Year last last Saturday, we took the boys in from
the rugby club into the church and we celebrated upstairs
in the mes Bar.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Brilliant. Now, look, I didn't know until I was reading
about you that you're a twin and you were a builder,
and your brother was a plumber or still as a plumber,
and you guys set up a joint bank account. You
bought a house together in South New Brighton, and then
I gather you'd have parties here and you charge people
twenty bucks to get in and tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Yeah, that's right. I think Mum and dad for that.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
We sort of weren't allowed to leave home until we'd
bought our first house, so we.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Weren't allowed to go rent.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
So yeah, yeah, me and me and my brother, my
twin Leon, we joined an account we were both in
the trade doing our apprenticeships, and we were putting one
hundred dollars each week into an account, and before we
knew it, we had about fifteen thousand saved, which was
a lot back then.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
In twenty two thousand.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And two three and we bought a house in South
New Brighton and we sort of went about doing it up,
turned it into a bit of a lad's pad, and
we were charging twenty dole entry fee. And we had
that back then Richard Norton who ran the spatesale House
on Billid with Andrew and they had the Ferry meatale House.
(04:31):
Norton's correct, So yeah, yeah, so that sort of started
way back then. And I'd go and grab the kicks
off Richard and then I'd pay them cash the next day.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So you'd charge twenty bucks for people to get into
the parties, and they would know that the beer would
be provided.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
It was very part Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
The beer was provided, and they'd have a bus going
taken them to town and they.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Had live DJ would have live live music.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Were sort of we're doing it monthly for a while,
and how the neighbors, the neighbors, they were all invited.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
They all came.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
So it was that sort of cold of Second South
New Brighton where everyone sort of got on.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Well it's read soone now so it's quite sad to see.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
It, but it was certainly it was a great place
back in this day.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
What a great story. Then you ended up working in
the mining industry in Western Australia and by the time
you were thirty you underpend house, apartment and some other
residential properties. How did you go from that to setting
up bars in christ Church?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yes, I did seven years working in the wild and
gas industry Western Australia, so I was working as a
builder here in christ Church and set an opportunity to
earn some better money in Western Australia. So I was
fortunate enough to get that opportunity. And it was never
supposed to be that long. But like everything, if you're
going to give it a good, good go, you've got
to give it a real good nudge.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
And doing a year over there.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Wasn't gonna it wasn't going to like change you changed
my world. But six or seven years, you know, was
so I sort of grafted, bought properties and basically positioned
myself to come home and build ogb which is a
cathedral square today?
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Yeah, and you.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Wrote so, and I can't remember exactly the wording, but
you know, if you're going to do words to the effect,
if you're going to do it, do it properly. What
was that? What was that?
Speaker 4 (06:13):
You think that?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
On a message you sent home about the apartment or something?
Is that right? Oh?
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Yeah? So yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I always have a list of things I want to
take off in life, and one of it was to
you know, they're quite out there kind of dreams.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
And goals, but that's how you've got to live in.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
My goal was to own my own a penthouse apartment
before I was thirty, so you go. But for me,
I wasn't satisfied with that. It wasn't where I felt
I was at that time. So obviously I've had to
you know, sell properties to be able to leverage myself
into building pubs and to create a business. So that
(06:50):
all sort of happened for a reason.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
What is it about old buildings with you? I mean,
I see you've got the old government building, the first
one o GB, and it just seems that you've looked
at these places, the particularly older places. What is it?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I think hospitality is a beautiful industry. I mean you
mentioned before I think you said king. I said I
wouldn't use the word king. I'd probably use battler, hospital batler.
But yeah, there's a real romance with hospitality. And for me,
if you're in an old building, if you're in a
heritage building, you've got longevity. Hospitality isn't always longevity, it's
(07:25):
it's a tough business. So for me, if I can
get my hands on an old building and turn that
into something that's iconic like OGB and the church and
Paddy mc norton's civil naval in Littleton, then it's it's,
you know, you sort of halfway there to being successful.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I feel what was the word you say, magic about hospitality?
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Romance? There's a romance. There's a romance and hospitality that
what is it.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Do you think though that people don't know will understand
about hospitality that maybe isn't quite so romantic. Well, I
really do. The first hospital person ever heard talk about
it being romantic.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Well, from there's there's a romance on the on the
front of house and on the facade right and then
like oh, I'll be like a dark on water and
then I might have a beer in my hand in
the pub like networking and someone walk in and look
at me and go, wow, look at that guy. That
that bar owner. He's what he's living the dream what
(08:21):
gen and beers all the time. You know, it's not it's.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Not someone said that to me about you last night.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Did that?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yes, And they've seen you at the church and I've
seen you around the plot and they're like, oh, that
guy looks like he's got a great life.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know that's is that part of that.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
That's the perception, you know. I mean, do get me wrong.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
This afternoon with the stadium, you know, the hype around
with Style lager, they all blacks. I mean, I'll be
having a pint. But it's that's that's after all the
hard work's done.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Tell me about the first night of the Super Rugby
super Round. How close did you get to running out
of beer at the Church?
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
We've sort of been gearing up for that weekend for
a long time really, and it was an unknown We
didn't know what to expect. So with that Super Round, fay,
it was we only fit in what we had capacity for,
so it was exciting to see the volume of keep
beer we went through which was which was a great
(09:14):
It was a it was a great bit of cream
on the top for us, you know, because yeah, you
don't always get the cream in hospitality.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I was talking to Greg at Smash Palace before that
weekend and he was saying, if you if you based
your business on the stadium, you're basing it on the
wrong thing.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I've said that before too, like have you built I
mean I might be contradicting myself with the Lancaster, but
it's a different.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
But this is a new sports bar.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Yes, correct, But if.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
You're going to if you're just going to build a
business next to the stadium to rely on the stadium,
then without anything else going around and sort of you
sort of I wouldn't rely purely on the stadium.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Now you're going to build the sports bar. It's going
to be cross the road from stadium. It's going to
have a capacity for about a thousand people. Correct, wins
it up and running.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Look, if it's open this time next year, I'll be celebrating.
So my goal was that I have opened before the
Rugby World Cup in Australia. The nine to thirty kickoff times,
which is prime time viewing for US like we're not
in a hurry because we're not like missing out with
OGB and the church and that you know, there's there's
plenty going on.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
So we'll do it right.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
It's a big build, there's a lot of big building consent,
so there's a lot of things, a lot of moving parts.
But we want to do it properly and we want
to bring back that big venue that Crushes used to
have pre earthquake.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Slightly, it's a delight to meet you and have this chair.
I just want to want to ask you one final question.
Are there any bars in town that you wish you
would set up that are currently there currently going?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, there's great venues in Cross which obviously I love
my old buildings. I love the old National Bank building
which is the Victoria Free House. I love that as
an old English style pub. And who's done that. He's
done a great job.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
He's done a great job.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, it's a great little space. That's one pub I like.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Oh, I mean for me, the terrace is not really
my thing. That's too new and shiny.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
But what about moved on to water?
Speaker 4 (11:06):
You mean under yet?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I mean, I love I'm gonna be a drinker, but
I do love my craft, but I also love my
mainstream and that's why I line myself with Line Nathan,
you know Stylager. I mean, there's a reason why they're
the most popular brands because they're easy to drink and
they're sessionable.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Hey, on one other thing, I've got to do this,
just explain that the eighteen dollar pints.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
At the church, See I don't know, they're not eighteen
seventeen so and they're not all seventeen they're they range
the bug and base, they range. They range from twelve
to seventeen, depending on the beach. So if you're drinking Emerson's,
which is a craft beer, it's an expensive kig.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Same with Ginners.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
So it's to do with the size of the It's
a real pint, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
So Yeah, a pint's five to seventy five mil yep
or five sixty eight mil, whatever you want to call that.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
It's five seventy five mil. That's a pint.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
So's if you're running a business, everything it's got to
be line.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
And don't worry about the mate. It's not putting the
kids going put the kids off going there Friday, Saturday nights.
They're all the time, and.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Then people can charge for twelve dollars for a i'll
say a schooner, which is four hundred and twenty five.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
There's nothing worse than that day.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
And they think that they get a better deal, but
it's actually the same. It's all relative.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
There's nothing worse is our Laura pint things that it
comes out. It's like a like a thimble.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Yeah, oh that's right, I know, but not everyone wants
a point because you don't always feel like you can
stomach a point. So it is nice to have that
option of a smaller glass. But yeah, it's as priced accordingly.
And to be honest, if Guinness was priced accordingly, Guinness
would be eighteen fifty a point, but we can't. That'd
be circulage to Guinness, so we can't. We have to
(12:38):
sell it at fifteen. It's probably gonna get to sixteen soon.
Otherwise you can't.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
You can't, you know, tell you what you can tell
us Friday, which walking beer. Very nice to see you
to meet your Thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
No, thanks for having me on, John appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
No things to and you will know this guy from roundtown.
He's all over the shop.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
For more from Caterbory Mornings with John McDonald. Listen live
to news talks It'd be christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk Z'B.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And Nick Engster's name is synonymous with hospitality in christ Church.
Here and his business partners run eight venues in christ Church,
one of Nelson as well, one of them Civil and Naval,
and Wellington in Littleton is one of my local favorites. Actually, Nick,
I love Civilian Naval also runs a church in town
which went through a ton of beer just the first
night of the big Super Rugby super Round back in April.
(00:32):
And he's about to set up one of the country's
biggest sports bars. And I'm delighted that Nick Eingster is
with us.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Now, good a morning morning John. Now look, I gather,
thanks for the coffee.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
My shout. I gathered that your father always knew that
you would end up running a pub one day. Why
was that?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, look, I just from a I guess from an
early age. I just loved hosting parties around at home.
Mum and Dad would always let us have the friends
around and you would always put a bit more on
than just a few drinks.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Would always have a love live.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
You know, musician in the corner or I made makeshift
bar where people could you know, sort of you know, yeah,
do their thing.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
It was more than just a backyard you know, backyard drinks.
So you know, I just sort of the old man
said to me, you know, you need to build Joe
Bar one day and got the opportunity after the earthquakes.
He passed away, and I thought this was the opportunity
to give something back to christ Church Place.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
I love place.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
O right, Yeah, we'll come back to that. You grew
you grew up in the eastern suburbs.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
You grew up in sort of Linward Dellington.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
What were you into when you were a kid?
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Well, I was.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I played soccer until I was fifteen and then I
went and played rugby union at Lynward Rugby Club. Yep.
And that's obviously how I met the Ordens. With my
business partners today, Richard and Andrew.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And you've you've you've kept up that involved with the club.
You've been a coach there, haven't you.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
You're not a coach. I'm the manager to manage that
did one boys. You're still doing that, yes, seventh season now.
So we've just won the minor premiership with Top the Round.
So we've got the quarter final tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh wow, it's a massive Weekend's the weekend? Yeah? Yes,
so ship? What's bigger that game? Will the All Bax game.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
The Limared game. For me, it's all about the grassroots fat.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
How do you find time for that? You run all
these pubs, you do all the stuff, and it seems
to me you're never sure of ideas for new stuff.
How do you find time to be a club team manager?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, for me, I joined up with the Nortons six
years ago, seven years ago, and part of that was
through the Limited Rabbit club. That's we've formed our relationship.
So I sent an opportunity to give back to the club.
As a manager of Div one, I sort of liked
to do things one hundred percent or not at all,
so I was no good at planning anymore. So I thought, well,
I'm not going to play top grade because I can't.
(02:51):
Old Mars will manage the top grade and just got
involved in twenty twenty and me and a few of
the boys. There's a group of us we call ourselves
Spears and Benter. We're sort of a group of lads.
They're all old Limard boys, we're all business owners and.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
We brought a bus together for the club.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
We're lucky the club let us wrap it in Limod
colors and the bus has been our walker for the
last six years now, and we've paddled to the Grand
Final and twenty four and won it, and then we
were runners up last year in twenty five and.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Tomorrow night I might be screaming around town again.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
You're correct.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Year last last Saturday, we took the boys in from
the rugby club into the church and we celebrated upstairs
in the mes Bar.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Brilliant. Now, look, I didn't know until I was reading
about you that you're a twin and you were a builder,
and your brother was a plumber or still as a plumber,
and you guys set up a joint bank account. You
bought a house together in South New Brighton, and then
I gather you'd have parties here and you charge people
twenty bucks to get in and tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Yeah, that's right. I think Mum and dad for that.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
We sort of weren't allowed to leave home until we'd
bought our first house, so we.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Weren't allowed to go rent.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
So yeah, yeah, me and me and my brother, my
twin Leon, we joined an account we were both in
the trade doing our apprenticeships, and we were putting one
hundred dollars each week into an account, and before we
knew it, we had about fifteen thousand saved, which was
a lot back then.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
In twenty two thousand.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And two three and we bought a house in South
New Brighton and we sort of went about doing it up,
turned it into a bit of a lad's pad, and
we were charging twenty dole entry fee. And we had
that back then Richard Norton who ran the spatesale House
on Billid with Andrew and they had the Ferry meatale House.
(04:31):
Norton's correct, So yeah, yeah, so that sort of started
way back then. And I'd go and grab the kicks
off Richard and then I'd pay them cash the next day.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So you'd charge twenty bucks for people to get into
the parties, and they would know that the beer would
be provided.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
It was very part Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
The beer was provided, and they'd have a bus going
taken them to town and they.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Had live DJ would have live live music.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Were sort of we're doing it monthly for a while,
and how the neighbors, the neighbors, they were all invited.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
They all came.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
So it was that sort of cold of Second South
New Brighton where everyone sort of got on.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Well it's read soone now so it's quite sad to see.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
It, but it was certainly it was a great place
back in this day.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
What a great story. Then you ended up working in
the mining industry in Western Australia and by the time
you were thirty you underpend house, apartment and some other
residential properties. How did you go from that to setting
up bars in christ Church?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yes, I did seven years working in the wild and
gas industry Western Australia, so I was working as a
builder here in christ Church and set an opportunity to
earn some better money in Western Australia. So I was
fortunate enough to get that opportunity. And it was never
supposed to be that long. But like everything, if you're
going to give it a good, good go, you've got
to give it a real good nudge.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
And doing a year over there.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Wasn't gonna it wasn't going to like change you changed
my world. But six or seven years, you know, was
so I sort of grafted, bought properties and basically positioned
myself to come home and build ogb which is a
cathedral square today?
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Yeah, and you.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Wrote so, and I can't remember exactly the wording, but
you know, if you're going to do words to the effect,
if you're going to do it, do it properly. What
was that? What was that?
Speaker 4 (06:13):
You think that?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
On a message you sent home about the apartment or something?
Is that right? Oh?
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Yeah? So yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I always have a list of things I want to
take off in life, and one of it was to
you know, they're quite out there kind of dreams.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
And goals, but that's how you've got to live in.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
My goal was to own my own a penthouse apartment
before I was thirty, so you go. But for me,
I wasn't satisfied with that. It wasn't where I felt
I was at that time. So obviously I've had to
you know, sell properties to be able to leverage myself
into building pubs and to create a business. So that
(06:50):
all sort of happened for a reason.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
What is it about old buildings with you? I mean,
I see you've got the old government building, the first
one o GB, and it just seems that you've looked
at these places, the particularly older places. What is it?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I think hospitality is a beautiful industry. I mean you
mentioned before I think you said king. I said I
wouldn't use the word king. I'd probably use battler, hospital batler.
But yeah, there's a real romance with hospitality. And for me,
if you're in an old building, if you're in a
heritage building, you've got longevity. Hospitality isn't always longevity, it's
(07:25):
it's a tough business. So for me, if I can
get my hands on an old building and turn that
into something that's iconic like OGB and the church and
Paddy mc norton's civil naval in Littleton, then it's it's,
you know, you sort of halfway there to being successful.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I feel what was the word you say, magic about hospitality?
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Romance? There's a romance. There's a romance and hospitality that
what is it.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Do you think though that people don't know will understand
about hospitality that maybe isn't quite so romantic. Well, I
really do. The first hospital person ever heard talk about
it being romantic.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Well, from there's there's a romance on the on the
front of house and on the facade right and then
like oh, I'll be like a dark on water and
then I might have a beer in my hand in
the pub like networking and someone walk in and look
at me and go, wow, look at that guy. That
that bar owner. He's what he's living the dream what
(08:21):
gen and beers all the time. You know, it's not it's.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Not someone said that to me about you last night.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Did that?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yes, And they've seen you at the church and I've
seen you around the plot and they're like, oh, that
guy looks like he's got a great life.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know that's is that part of that.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
That's the perception, you know. I mean, do get me wrong.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
This afternoon with the stadium, you know, the hype around
with Style lager, they all blacks. I mean, I'll be
having a pint. But it's that's that's after all the
hard work's done.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Tell me about the first night of the Super Rugby
super Round. How close did you get to running out
of beer at the Church?
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
We've sort of been gearing up for that weekend for
a long time really, and it was an unknown We
didn't know what to expect. So with that Super Round, fay,
it was we only fit in what we had capacity for,
so it was exciting to see the volume of keep
beer we went through which was which was a great
(09:14):
It was a it was a great bit of cream
on the top for us, you know, because yeah, you
don't always get the cream in hospitality.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I was talking to Greg at Smash Palace before that
weekend and he was saying, if you if you based
your business on the stadium, you're basing it on the
wrong thing.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I've said that before too, like have you built I
mean I might be contradicting myself with the Lancaster, but
it's a different.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
But this is a new sports bar.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Yes, correct, But if.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
You're going to if you're just going to build a
business next to the stadium to rely on the stadium,
then without anything else going around and sort of you
sort of I wouldn't rely purely on the stadium.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Now you're going to build the sports bar. It's going
to be cross the road from stadium. It's going to
have a capacity for about a thousand people. Correct, wins
it up and running.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Look, if it's open this time next year, I'll be celebrating.
So my goal was that I have opened before the
Rugby World Cup in Australia. The nine to thirty kickoff times,
which is prime time viewing for US like we're not
in a hurry because we're not like missing out with
OGB and the church and that you know, there's there's
plenty going on.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
So we'll do it right.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
It's a big build, there's a lot of big building consent,
so there's a lot of things, a lot of moving parts.
But we want to do it properly and we want
to bring back that big venue that Crushes used to
have pre earthquake.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Slightly, it's a delight to meet you and have this chair.
I just want to want to ask you one final question.
Are there any bars in town that you wish you
would set up that are currently there currently going?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, there's great venues in Cross which obviously I love
my old buildings. I love the old National Bank building
which is the Victoria Free House. I love that as
an old English style pub. And who's done that. He's
done a great job.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
He's done a great job.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, it's a great little space. That's one pub I like.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Oh, I mean for me, the terrace is not really
my thing. That's too new and shiny.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
But what about moved on to water?
Speaker 4 (11:06):
You mean under yet?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I mean, I love I'm gonna be a drinker, but
I do love my craft, but I also love my
mainstream and that's why I line myself with Line Nathan,
you know Stylager. I mean, there's a reason why they're
the most popular brands because they're easy to drink and
they're sessionable.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Hey, on one other thing, I've got to do this,
just explain that the eighteen dollar pints.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
At the church, See I don't know, they're not eighteen
seventeen so and they're not all seventeen they're they range
the bug and base, they range. They range from twelve
to seventeen, depending on the beach. So if you're drinking Emerson's,
which is a craft beer, it's an expensive kig.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Same with Ginners.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
So it's to do with the size of the It's
a real pint, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
So Yeah, a pint's five to seventy five mil yep
or five sixty eight mil, whatever you want to call that.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
It's five seventy five mil. That's a pint.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
So's if you're running a business, everything it's got to
be line.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
And don't worry about the mate. It's not putting the
kids going put the kids off going there Friday, Saturday nights.
They're all the time, and.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Then people can charge for twelve dollars for a i'll
say a schooner, which is four hundred and twenty five.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
There's nothing worse than that day.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
And they think that they get a better deal, but
it's actually the same. It's all relative.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
There's nothing worse is our Laura pint things that it
comes out. It's like a like a thimble.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Yeah, oh that's right, I know, but not everyone wants
a point because you don't always feel like you can
stomach a point. So it is nice to have that
option of a smaller glass. But yeah, it's as priced accordingly.
And to be honest, if Guinness was priced accordingly, Guinness
would be eighteen fifty a point, but we can't. That'd
be circulage to Guinness, so we can't. We have to
(12:38):
sell it at fifteen. It's probably gonna get to sixteen soon.
Otherwise you can't.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
You can't, you know, tell you what you can tell
us Friday, which walking beer. Very nice to see you
to meet your Thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
No, thanks for having me on, John appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
No things to and you will know this guy from roundtown.
He's all over the shop.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
For more from Caterbory Mornings with John McDonald. Listen live
to news talks It'd be christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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