Freight Bar changes hands, new owners excited to begin

Charmaine and Alistair Jarvis opened the doors to their new business on Sunday, after purchasing the pub from previous owners Chris, Phil and Colleen Sargent.

The couple, both accountants by trade, have roots in Ballarat, and came back to the city for a career change after living in Melbourne.

Charmaine said her passion for hospitality developed over the past 10 years.

"My background has been pretty much accounting for my whole career, but in the last 10 years I have been in and out of hospitality," she said.

"I started off as just a normal bartender and between being an accountant, working in a public service and working between jobs, I just started going up the ranks until hospitality became a bigger part of my life."

Charmaine eventually moved into manager roles for multiple venues in Melbourne, including The Grand Hotel in Richmond and the Network Bar in Docklands.

Alistair grew up and attended university in Ballarat.

In a similar fashion to Charmaine, he began work in Melbourne in the telecommunications industry, but felt hospitality's call.

It started with a book-keeping position at Federation Square's Transport Bar.

Alistair developed more and more hospitality clients and eventually began offering profitability courses on Zoom to a range of venues across Victoria.

Charmaine said a death in the family had inspired her to consider a career change.

"Being both accountants, I figure I can do what I love, and help with that side of it," she said.

"I just like being around people, seeing people happy.

"It was fun, instead of being in an office, which I was for the last five years, doing bits and pieces for our friends who own venues."

After a "crazy" first day of business, the couple are beginning to settle into the everyday operation of a pub, hiring a new head chef to revamp the menu.

The new menu looks to include both Ballarat pub staples and lighter options.

The pair also look to revamp and open the venue's function space - which can hold about 200 people.

"The function side of the business will be the really big change once that comes on board," Alistair said.

The couple, however, will still keep the Freight Bar name and logo.

They said Ballarat could expect a "refreshed" take on hospitality, and invited everyone to come and see it in person.

"Good atmosphere, good music. We will still have live music up on the rooftop. Entertainment is a big focus, and trivia. Just making people come in here and have fun," Alistair said.

Charmaine added: "Fresh minds coming from a hospo background. We hope that we can put our stamp on this place with a refreshed mindset".

Former owner Chris Sargent, who had been at Freight since 2013, said he had made some amazing memories in his time there. He said he wanted to continue working in hospitality, but with a more consistent "nine to five" roster.

"It has turned into a really nice bar upstairs, a lot of great regulars. It has been fun owning it for the last 10 years," he said.

"We had some big nights up there. Troy Elliot's going away gig was rather memorable. I would like to wish Alistair and Charmaine all the best in the future and that they have as much fun in the pub as I did."

Have you tried The Courier's app? It can be downloaded here.