From the finance industry to hospitality is not a natural progression, but the new owner of Kings Bridge Bar and Restaurant has made the plunge.
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Sandy Berry is a single mum of three, and when two of her children moved out of home earlier this year, she was looking for a “new baby”.
“I was working at a bank and the old owners of this place were from Melbourne. When they came over and bought it they were doing their banking with me. I became friends with them because I was seeing them every week,” she said.
“Then my daughter was going through college and I rang and asked if they could give her a job. Then one day I came in just to say hi and they offered me a job to run the place, and said it was up for sale.”
Berry went away and thought about buying the place and did everything she could to make it hers.
“Every cent that I have to my name is in this place,” she said.
“It’s a bit of a success story for me because I moved out of home when I was 15 and have lived on my own since then. I’ve got three children that I’ve pretty much raised by myself.”
Ms Berry plans to keep the restaurant as it is, with some added touches.
“We serve meals all day everyday from 7.30am Monday to Sunday. When one menu finishes, the next one kicks in. A lot of people don’t actually know that we do breakfast, so I’ll be working on growing that,” she said.
“We’ve got some really good rooms and spaces here for functions. I’m going to do up the front and get the beer garden ready for summer. There is also a deck up the top that a lot of people don’t know about and it over looks all the river.”
No changes have been made to the business’ 25 staff.
“I’m quite happy with the reputation that Kings Bridge has and I haven’t changed any staff because they’re all fantastic,” she said.
“The kitchen, I’ve been told by reps and suppliers that come in, is one of the best in Launceston.”
Ms Berry has previously worked at the Carrick Mill and done bar work at the Mowbray race course, along with her 11 years in finance.
“I just got a bit sick of doing finance and that’s when I came to talk to the old owners and this is where it all ended up,” she said.
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