Media hurts Hard Rock couple

“From Hard Rock to hard times: cafes collapse owing millions” yells the Brisbane Times this week.

“Australia’s Hard Rock Cafe franchise has collapsed” asserts The Sunshine Coast Daily.

So where does that leave the new owners of the Hard Rock Cafe franchise and two outlets? Jeff and Sam Beaumont (above) purchased the business as a going concern. Smart Company got the story RIGHT: “Beaumont has purchased the cafes currently in operation in Sydney and Surfers Paradise after they were placed in voluntary administration in June this year with a debt of $4 million, but the entrepreneur has plans to open a new cafe at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, according to reports.

CX was lucky enough to sail on Sydney harbour with the Beaumont’s a few weeks back, as they celebrated buying the Hard Rock Cafe business. “Keep it quiet”, Jeff told me, as he knew too well that the stench of the previous operators going into administration could affect the business.

Then this week Sydney Morning Herald, and the newspapers above, all ran misleading headlines that directly implied ‘Hard Rock Cafe Has Collapsed’, whereas that was the case in June when Accountancy firm Cor Cordis was appointed as administrator.

The story should have been headed ‘Hard Rock Cafe Staff saved by new owners” since Smart Company reports Jeff plans to pay much of the lost entitlements.

On behalf of the idiotic media named above, CX apologizes to the Beaumont’s and wish them all the best with their new / old venture!