Inside Australia’s glamour family

Justin Hemmes and father John, founder of the now billion-dollar Merivale Group. Source: Supplied

JOHN Hemmes, the patriarch of the billion-dollar Merivale family empire, passed away this week following a long battle with cancer. He was 83.

The Merivale Group founder and father of nightclub mogul Justin Hemmes was surrounded by family when he died on Sunday night at his Sydney home, his family said in a statement.

"I will miss him terribly," Justin Hemmes said.

Originally a fashion house, Merivale, owned by the Hemmes family, has grown into a portfolio of more than 50 restaurants, bars, pubs and hotels in Sydney, with an estimated value of more than $1 billion.

The family announced the 83-year-old's death with "great sadness" on Monday. He had been suffering from a type of cancer called multiple myeloma.

Mr Hemmes, affectionately known as 'Mr John', was born in the Surabaya, Indonesia, in 1931. He spent four years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp while still a teenager, before returning to Holland with his family.

At age 19 and with just $20 in his pocket, his father sent him to live in New Zealand, where he found work in an abattoir. "That is a job that can be soul destroying, but I convinced myself it was for the best, because I needed to survive," he told Fairfax Media. "I was a young boy not long out of a Japanese concentration camp and did not understand English."

In 1952 he moved to Australia, where he met his future wife Merivale, and together they founded the landmark fashion retailers House of Merivale and Mr John.

"John and Merivale Hemmes were mavericks in Australian fashion," writes the History Council of NSW. "Modelled on London's famous concept boutiques, and catering to 18-25 year olds, the House of Merivale was the first specialty fashion boutique in Australia.

"The House of Merivale was the place to go to for the latest trends in music, fashion and make-up and was the first store in Australia to sell the mini skirt. The popularity of the boutique was such that teenagers would be lined up outside the door."

John and Merivale Hemmes, who began with fashion boutiques which expanded into restaurant and bar empire. Source: News Corp Australia

Merivale and John Hemmes at the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation's annual fundraising party in 2012. Source: Supplied

Justin Hemmes at the new rooftop restaurant space at Coogee Pavilion. Source: News Corp Australia

Katie Fowler, Justin Hemmes and Bettina Hemmes at Papi Chulo in Manly. Source: News Corp Australia

Justin Hemmes has earned a reputation as an innovative businessman. Source: News Corp Australia

Years later, the same could be said of Merivale Group's string of successful nightclubs, bars and restaurants, including Establishment, The Ivy and Coogee Pavilion, with son Justin now carrying the torch as CEO.

Bettina Hemmes, who keeps a much lower profile than her brother, has been behind the design of some of Merivale's most striking venues, including Chinese restaurant Mr Wong in the CBD.

Justin has attracted his fair share of controversy over the years. In 1998, he infamously flipped a $300,000 speedboat in Sydney Harbour, putting his nine passengers in hospital. Earlier that year he had been arrested for drink driving in his 1972 Ferrari BB Boxer, given to him by his father.

Despite earning a reputation in his 20s as a 'spoiled rich kid', Justin Hemmes has become one of the country's most respected and innovative entrepreneurs. In 2004, Hemmes told The Sydney Morning Herald that part of it his evolution was down to a rethinking of his approach to business.

Rather than hiring ambitious young guns for senior roles, he began surrounding himself with older, highly experienced managers. "I got the best chief financial officer, the best manager of operations," he said. "People who could teach me."

After early successes with Establishment, the real test came with Ivy, the $160 million, multi-level, multi-venue super club in the heart of Sydney's CBD, which many predicted at the time — perhaps hoped — would be a spectacular failure.

But The Ivy and the Merivale empire have gone from success to success, despite being dogged with further controversies. In 2011, an Ivy driver was arrested in Redfern in possession of cocaine.

Also in 2011, 19-year-old Nicholas Barsoum was bashed by Ivy bouncers in the nightclub's basement. He is currently suing for more than $1 million in damages.

And late last year, Hemmes settled a lawsuit with a former employee who alleged he was strip searched and had his house searched by Hemmes and his guards after being accused of stealing.

Hemmes, however, is famed for his ability to bounce back from adversity.

His $5.5 million purchase of the Paddington Arms hotel last year was seen as a response to the NSW State Government's crackdown on liquor licensing restricting the sales of alcohol in the CBD and Kings Cross after 1:30am.

The Paddington Arms falls outside the enforcement zone, meaning it can serve liquor until 3am. "Justin will make the Paddington Arms work because he's splash a heap of cash on it," one source close to the deal told The Daily Telegraph.

It's worked so far.

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