Australian Venue Co (AVC) has partnered with Afterpay launching Dine Now, Pay Later across 12 of its venues in New South Wales today.

The launch comes as Australia emerges from a series of lockdowns across parts of the nation, having almost reached a 80 per cent double vaccination rate, allowing for dining and hospitality groups to rebuild and regain after a difficult 20 months.

Afterpay will be rolled out to all 160 venues across Australia from Monday, 15 November.

Australian Venue Co CEO Paul Waterson said that the move was driven by customer demand and a desire to continue to lead the industry in forward-thinking tech solutions.

“We’re not afraid to go first. As a group, we seek out other industry leaders who we can work with to innovate on behalf of our customers.

“We’ve had enormous success with Mr Yum, which we launched pre-pandemic, and SevenRooms, which is a market-leading reservations platform. We’re excited to be the first group to apply a leading technology solution to the Australian hospitality context.”

Afterpay's Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) facility means that consumers can use their own money at checkout, and budget and spread-out payments over four interest-free instalments with no interest ever or fees if paid on time.

“Our customers have been clear. We know what they want, and we’re happy to offer them more flexibility, especially as they shift away from credit cards,” said Mr Waterson.

AVC Victorian acquisitions

AVC runs 160 venues around Australia and last week announced three new Melbourne acquisitions: Village Belle Hotel in St Kilda, Ball Court Hotel in Sunbury and The Victoria Hotel in Yarraville. Settlement of Village Belle Hotel will take place at the end of November and re-openings of the other two, currently closed, venues under AVC management will be in November and December respectively.

These new venues bring the group's Victorian portfolio to 38, with AVC focussed on acquiring and revitalising heritage pubs and landmark destinations. Mr Waterson said the acquisitions reflect the group’s confidence in the industry.

“Melburnians have missed the pub and they’re coming out in droves. Many of our pubs have been part of the community for more than a hundred years, and they’re not going anywhere. We’re committed to investing in the industry and keeping these pubs open for decades to come.”

“These new acquisitions are beautiful community pubs, and we’re excited to be part of their next chapter as we all look forward to the future. We’re excited to open their doors for a fun summer of catching up with family and friends, and getting back to the pub.”

Earlier this year, the group re-opened the historic Sarah Sands Hotel in Brunswick after an extensive renovation, and acquired Bimbo in Fitzroy, which will re-open under the name Kewpie on 8 November.

Village Belle Hotel, St Kilda

The Village Belle Hotel opened in 1891 and was extensively renovated in 2017. The heritage hotel is a local landmark, encompassing a beer garden, public bar and cocktail lounge across two floors and four distinct trading areas. AVC will settle on the sale at the end of November and begin operations in December. There are no plans to make major changes to the venue.

The sale represents one of this year’s largest Metro Melbourne leasehold transactions in this category to date and breathes a fresh air of activity within the sector after Melbourne’s sixth lockdown.

Ball Court Hotel, Sunbury

Constructed in the 1870s, Ball Court Hotel is the only remaining 19th century hotel in Sunbury and it retains its characteristic corner frontage. Australian Venue Co is refreshing and revitalising the pub which will open on Thursday, 11 November.

The Victoria Hotel, Yarraville

Established in 1873, AVC is revitalising the pub with plans to re-open on Sunday, 5 December.

Kewpie, Brunswick Street

The popular Brunswick Street bar formerly known as Bimbo will re-open this month with a new name: Kewpie. Inspired by the bar’s iconic Kewpie doll on the building’s exterior, the new name is the only major change to the Fitzroy favourite, which has been closed since the onset of the pandemic.

AVC have also used lockdown to renovate The Exchange Beach Club in Port Melbourne with the venue to set to open this weekend.

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