The Broken Hill Pub, known as the BHP, has officially been sold. One of the oldest pubs in town. Established in 1886 as the Broken Hill Hotel, it is a pub that would not look out of place in the CBD of Melbourne or Sydney.
The current iteration of the historic watering hole was opened by Steve Radford and Marg McBride in 2020, and the baton has now been passed to the Baillie family.
The Baillie family has strong roots in Broken Hill, husband and wife Tim and Ainslie Baillie told the Barrier Truth. The couple have visited on numerous occasions throughout their lives. Ainslie Baillie won the Most Stylish Lady award on St Pats race day back in 2019, and Tim and his brothers spent numerous school holidays here with family, with Tim even living here for a time.
“Tim’s parents are born and bred here in Broken Hill. I mean currently we are staying with aunties and uncles and cousins, so there is a strong family heritage here in Broken Hill for us,” Ms Baillie told the Truth.
When the opportunity to purchase the BHP came along, the Baillie Family Pub Pty Ltd pounced on the opportunity.
“It is iconic. It is a stunning pub with a strong history and with what Marg and Steve did developing it has taken it to a whole new level. I think this is a lot better than a lot of the pubs you find in the city.
“And for Tim, to have a piece of Broken Hill, it’s very sentimental and means a lot to him.”
The Baillie’s have plans for improving accommodation at the pub, as well as developing an exclusive upstairs function room and an alfresco area to, as Tim puts it, “absorb Broken Hill and watch the world go by.”
On top of all of that, they also want to help boost the town and encourage more people to check out what Broken Hill has to offer.
“We’re going to be trying to get more people into town and create a bit of a loop. Have them visit here, then head across to Spargos for a pizza, maybe pop out to Silverton, head to Bells for a milkshake, just help the town out where we can,” Mr Baillie said.
“Not only do we want to elevate what we’re doing here, we want to give back as well. We have a few initiatives we are working on to help with the local sporting communities amongst other things,” Ms Baillie added.
With an elite staffing set up, the change in ownership is has been seamless and the BHP opened under new ownership on Thursday.
