The Deck at Port Geographe has a new lease of life after the Triplett family from Busselton took the reigns last week.
Son Ben Triplett is an accomplished chef and had been looking for an opportunity to run his own kitchen.
His father John had been working around the world in the oil and gas industry and wanted to find something that would allow him to stay in Busselton with his family.
His daughters have just finished school and needed part time jobs while they were studying.
“Everybody needed a job, Ben had been working as a chef and was ready to go out on his own, we all got together and thought it suited the family,” John said.
“The girls could pick up some part time work, and Ben and I could work together which is something we have wanted to do for a long time.
“It is pretty exciting, we looked for a long time to try and find the right venue. the right right place and the right business.”
The business is now employing eight full time employees and a few casuals on contracts so they could be apart of the family business.
“It is exciting for us, we wanted people of our age, who love the industry and it is what they are passionate about,” John said.
“There are some really great people in Busselton and great workers.”
The family opened their doors on Thursday after receiving the keys on Monday. Ben and the sous chef started preparing in the kitchen immediately while John and the other staff were getting the restaurant and bar ready.
“We have hit the ground running, it has been fantastic so far,” John said.
Small business shadow minister and Vasse MLA Libby Mettam said it was fantastic to see this investment in jobs but also training in the region, given they have taken on an apprentice as well.
Ms Mettam said there were over 218,000 small businesses in WA and it was these businesses which were the true creators of wealth and employment.
“The most recent ABS Australian Business Register indicated there were an estimated 3,871 local businesses in the City of Busselton in June 2017,” she said.
“This represented an annual increase of 1.3 per cent from the level recorded in June 2016 representing growth in the small business sector which is encouraging for this region.”