Brewery founder calls time after ‘great journey’
A Nelson venue where children’s gatherings sit comfortably alongside hen parties is attracting interest from potential buyers in New Zealand and overseas.
The Park Life brewery and cafe in Founders Park is on the market, with the building, brewery and contents up for sale.
The business is a focal point of the heritage park, which hosts a replica historic village, railway line, and a number of the city’s main festivals.
Brewer John Duncan, who built the company from scratch 20 years ago, is hanging up his hat after ‘‘running around like a headless chicken’’ for the past two decades.
‘‘It’s been a great journey in the last 20 years. I’ve employed all my children here from university holidays, some full time.’’
He’s selling up, with encouragement from his children who want him ‘‘to get a reward for all the years’ work’’, to look after his wife who has early onset dementia. ‘‘I’d like to see it go to a good home. There’s an option of either a brewer or a cafe person or a combination of the two. There’s a lot of potential.’’
Although Duncan would stop producing Park Life beer once the company sold, the former McCashins head brewer would be happy to act as a consultant to any buyer, or for someone to even continue the brand.
‘‘Somebody with a brewing background could step in and start brewing straight away, everything’s there in place. And the same in the kitchen. The beer thing is changing and evolving quite rapidly. Every five years it seems to be a different trend.’’
He would miss regular customers and staff they’d employed along the way.
Duncan said the unique setting of the business was a drawcard.
‘‘We get people coming to the park who happen to come across the brewery cafe . . . and we get the beer geeks coming from all over the world – we do the tasting trail,’’ he said.
They’d hosted children’s birthday parties, weddings, christenings and baby showers.
Debbie Cade from real estate agency Colliers International said: ‘‘It’s world-class – John’s product’s been world-class and the whole Founders Park is right up there.
‘‘Where else in the world could you go to a cafe and a brewery and have the whole cross-section of the community there?
‘‘John could leave here on Friday night, and the new operator could walk in on Saturday morning and just carry on and build from there. We’re getting a consistent flow of inquiries.’’