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Hellebrekers Enters Restaurant Association Hall of Fame

Hellebrekers Inducted Into Restaurant Association Hall of Fame

Auckland, 21 August 2103 – The Restaurant Association of New Zealand this evening announced John Hellebrekers as the 2013 inductee into the Association’s Hall of Fame, an accolade reserved for those who have made an extensive and on-going commitment to New Zealand’s hospitality industry.

The Hall of Fame award – sponsored by Crombie Lockwood – has been previously conferred on industry greats such as Simon Gault, Michael Van de Elzen, Judith Tabron and Ruth Pretty. It is voted on by members of the Association’s Education Trust.

Restaurant Association Chairman, Tony Adcock, a former recipient of the Hall of Fame award, says that Hellebrekers and his Barworks Hospitality Group, a joint venture between DB Breweries, Hellebrekers and his partners Gavin Cowell and Andy Roberts, have enabled many young bar operators to open their own establishments.

“We are delighted to welcome John into the Restaurant Association Hall of Fame and celebrate his career achievements to date. He is a real leader and innovator in our industry and passionate about hospitality.

“The Hall of Fame award is for those who have made an outstanding contribution to our sector and John is a deserving recipient. He’s helped many make the transition to business owner, and that’s great for our sector.

“Barworks has a unique model that encourages and supports people to enter the industry as venue owners and operators. John is the driving force in the business and his willingness to take a chance on people, recognising their character and potential, sees him held in the highest regard by his industry peers,” says Adcock.

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Hellebrekers has had a lifelong involvement in hospitality starting with his parents’ hotel. He slowly worked his way up the industry ladder, and opened is first bar in Auckland Degree Gastrobar in 1999, a venue that is still a success 14 years on.

Along the way he grew the number of outlets to seven, before joining forces with DB Breweries in 2008 to form Barworks, a collaboration which owes its genesis to an idea spawned during a late night Las Vegas casino meeting. That idea eventually became Barworks Hospitality Group, which has since grown to 20 venues.

Previous Hall of Fame inductees:

1992 Bob Sell

1993 Otto Groen

1994 Don Fletcher

1995 Des Britten

1996 Tony Adcock

1997 Tony Astle

1998 Pierre Meyer

1999 Remiro Bresolin

2001 Valerie Littlejohn

2002 Judith Tabron

2003 Tonic Farac

2004 Mervyn and Rae Ah Chee

2005 Ruth Pretty

2006 Michael Lee- Richards

2007 Fleur Sullivan

2008 John Lawrence

2009 Clive Weston

2010 Steve Logan

2011 Simon Gault

2012 Michael Van de Elzen

Ends

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