After opening iconic North Cottesloe restaurant the Blue Duck 17 years ago, Kim Gamble has sold up to “simplify” his life.
After opening iconic North Cottesloe restaurant the Blue Duck 17 years ago, Kim Gamble has sold up to “simplify” his life.
Mr Gamble told WA Business News the pressures and red tape of running a small business were becoming too much.
Remaining coy about the buyer of the WA icon and the price paid, Mr Gamble said only that it was a “local” who was “in the business”.
The new owner will take on the business beginning March 1, and Mr Gamble said he would focus his energy on his neighbouring beachside business, Barchetta.
However, the decision to sell the Blue Duck – a restaurant synonymous with sandy feet, spectacular views, and a clientele as varied as the menu – was far from easy, but the timing was right Mr Gamble said.
“I do love the Blue Duck, and it was a very emotional decision which wasn’t easy, but after 17 years I have decided to simplify my life,” he said.
“I used to open this place on my own and make the muffins every day; now I feel like I have just become an administrator. It takes so much to run a small business, with all the forms and permits and people telling you what to do and how to do it all the time.”
Criticising payroll tax and the administration required to ensure it is correctly done, Mr Gamble said doing it for 70 to 80 employees was just too hard.
“Payroll tax is ridiculous for a restaurant of my size that employs so many locals, school kids and apprentices; the government just doesn’t understand how hard it is to run a small business,” he said.
“They think we are making millions, and the process you have to go through to do something simple like empty a grease trap is ridiculous.”
Focusing on his smaller restaurant, Barchetta, Mr Gamble said he looked forward to being involved in evolving the business ethos he had adopted when establishing the Blue Duck – great service, great food and a great environment.
He said he hoped to get a liquor licence for the restaurant in the future, and was absolutely behind the proposed liquor reforms.
“It’s a part of society to drink, and it’s ridiculous that you can’t get a drink on a Sunday in a restaurant without buying food,” Mr Gamble said.
“I really hope the government goes ahead with reforms. The AHA is an anachronism with vested interests; loosening the laws is just an obvious thing to do.”
The Blue Duck restaurant’s premises are owned by the North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club, one of Australia’s most popular and profitable surf life saving clubs.
North Cottesloe SLSC has a 50-year peppercorn rental lease it entered into with the Department of Land Administration for its beachfront rooms. As previously reported by WA Business News, rent received from the Blue Duck restaurant provides between 35 per cent and 40 per cent of the club’s $500,000 annual revenue.