Story by Michael Harden, Photos by @inkdfotogrfa.daylesford

It started as a joke. Mitch Duncan and his partner Steve had been coming to Daylesford for several years to visit friends and every time they visited, they’d end up at the Farmers Arms Hotel.

“We loved the feel of the place and it felt like our local, even though we only got there every couple of months,” says Mitch. “It was always a cracker night and we used to say – as you do drunkenly at the end of the bar – if this place ever comes up for sale, we should buy it.”

And then it happened. Four-and-a-half years ago, a friend rang Mitch to tell him the pub was on the market and so he and Steve decided it wasn’t a joke. Suddenly they were publicans.

“We loved the idea of having such an iconic place,” Mitch says. “But we’d never run a hospitality business before. Steve’s a doctor and I’d retired from the automotive industry and had interests in property development. For the first six months we worked there ourselves but realised pretty quickly that it was best for us to get out of the way and concentrate on the business side of the business and let the hospitality professionals, led by long-term team member Megan Evans, do the fantastic job they do.”

It was an excellent decision, not surprising given Mitch’s successful business track record. He set about attracting the best people to work at the Farmers Arms, like General Manager Mel Nolte, by “creating an amazing place to work”, one where the team had a sense of autonomy.

“If people don’t have a great place to work and a sense of ownership then they treat their job as transient,” he says. “We really worked at making it a good place – updating equipment and work spaces, making sure they get time off, engaging them and training them so they can grow with the business.”

He’s also been very careful about any changes he makes to the Farmers Arms, understanding the delicate balance that makes it as friendly to locals as to visitors.

“We’re just about to start a major renovation where we’ll be knocking off the back wing, installing a state-of-the-art kitchen, offices and staff rooms and returning the kitchen space to its original function as a dining room,” Mitch says. “But we’re not going to touch the front bar – that stays the same. We leave the cracks in the vinyl on the bar, we leave the scratches and the dents and the bumps because it’s a 161-year-old pub and it just has all those chips and bumps. That’s part of the feel of the place. It’s what people love.”

Head chef Chris Timmins has worked to get the right balance with the food. The once- static menu now changes completely every season, taking advantage of great local produce, but there’s also a Farmers’ Classics list that keeps favourites like pork belly and sh and chips in play. The same goes for the Friday night meat raffle.

“I think there might be a riot if we tried to drop any of those,” says Mitch.

There are other changes afoot. The success of the Art Suites accommodation that opened across the road from the Farmers Arms 18 months ago, prompted Mitch and Steve to buy the Great Western Hotel in Ballan. It’s currently being renovated and will include ten hotel rooms in the mix along with several other hospitality ventures that are due to open in early 2020.”

It seems like Mitch Duncan is making all the smart moves but he’s quick to deflect any praise for the success of the Farmers Arms.

“If there’s anyone who’s the hero here it’s the team, not me,” he says.

Farmers Arms Daylesford

1 East Street, Daylesford 5348 2091 thefarmersarms.com.au