IT'S hard to imagine anyone has had a more diverse working life than Bruce Toole. The man who is best known to a wider Gold Coast audience via Tooley's, the Main Beach bar and eatery, has seemingly done everything.
"My father Don was an engineer and specialised tool maker and he and my mother Joan raised seven children so as you can imagine it was always pretty hectic at home. In all I went to 13 different schools and with my surname of Toole I got into a lot of scraps. From the age of 12 I was running an orchard for a local farmer and It gave me a taste for making money and being independent which has stayed with me."
Bruce left school at 17 and took a job in Melbourne selling ladies hosiery. "As a rep back then I had to travel by tram to all my clients but after a couple of years an opportunity to sell insurance, mostly around the Melbourne wharves, came my way. The money was great but it was dangerous because the people I was dealing with were mostly gangsters or communists so you had to tread carefully." Realising that his health may be in jeopardy if he crossed the wrong person, Bruce's next career jump was into the rag trade working for Actil. Now 21 years of age, he was sent to be the area representative for South East Queensland. "The job involved a lot of travelling around all these great country towns and staying in the local pubs. The fridges were always stocked and an honour system prevailed - if you took a beer you simply left the money on the dresser. Great days!"
Married at 23 to Christine, a union which produced children Kelly and Adam, he lasted three more years before again jumping sideways and up, much like a knight in chess, to a stint with Gillette. "People ask me about selling but I was never afraid to approach people and my life has always involved meeting lots of different people so sales were simply a natural extension of my life." Then another career change working for Scott Bonnar which led Bruce to golf and bowls courses. "It dawned on me that there were an awful lot of golf courses which needed new machinery and to have their greens revitalised so in 1975 I established Programmed Turf Maintenance. The team became so good that they could turf an entire course in two days. We brought in tonnes of sand for the Kooralbyn course and I invented a grooming reel which would make the grass on bowling greens tighter but smoother."
In 1981 Bruce's marriage broke down, he sold his business and looking for something to do, started work for Brendan Edwards at Club Pacific. "Sport and fitness was something I enjoyed and I needed something to do. That gave me a thought about organising tennis and golf days. I established Sports Fun International and we ran events - didn't make a lot of money but we had some great parties," he grins. "At the same time I set up hot dog stands to operate outside the night clubs in Surfers Paradise. Backpackers would run them and I used to set it all up in my unit and then deliver the buns and sausages to the vendors." Those famous parties led then to another career change. "Ken Oliver was setting up Logan Farm frozen vegetables and I went to work with him. I became the buyer for all the produce which involved trips to America and buying massive amounts of vegetables."
By 1988 the entrepreneur in Bruce surfaced again when he established I.Q.F. Foods which at its peak was buying 1000 tonnes of capsicums per annum. That business is still operating and ever the one to find an opportunity, he and former F1 champion Alan Jones, went into business using the Malaysian Grand Prix circuit for an international driving academy. "Alan and I had a lot of fun with that but we ran into problems with some government officials and so I again changed direction. I had nothing to do and in 2002 the opportunity came up to establish Tooley's. In all it cost $1 million to set up and it took awhile for me to get used to running a restaurant. In the end it was great, the customers were fantastic and we never had any trouble but I decided to sell at what was a good time. My main business now is 'Compost Direct' which came about when I was visiting a mushroom grower and saw this compost going to waste. I had it all checked out by agricultural scientists, made an offer to buy the excess from the mushroom growing process and I've been doing this for four years."
If diversity is the spice of life, Bruce Toole would qualify as highly seasoned. His attitude of 'let's give it a go' has meant that he has a lifetime of wonderful memories.
Bruce Toole
I was born in: Melbourne in 1947
I arrived on the Gold Coast: The family moved to Brisbane in 1954 for a few years and we would come down to Surfers for weekends
I moved here: In 1981 because I had a business renovating golf courses
"My father Don was an engineer and specialised tool maker and he and my mother Joan raised seven children so as you can imagine it was always pretty hectic at home. In all I went to 13 different schools and with my surname of Toole I got into a lot of scraps. From the age of 12 I was running an orchard for a local farmer and It gave me a taste for making money and being independent which has stayed with me."
Bruce left school at 17 and took a job in Melbourne selling ladies hosiery. "As a rep back then I had to travel by tram to all my clients but after a couple of years an opportunity to sell insurance, mostly around the Melbourne wharves, came my way. The money was great but it was dangerous because the people I was dealing with were mostly gangsters or communists so you had to tread carefully." Realising that his health may be in jeopardy if he crossed the wrong person, Bruce's next career jump was into the rag trade working for Actil. Now 21 years of age, he was sent to be the area representative for South East Queensland. "The job involved a lot of travelling around all these great country towns and staying in the local pubs. The fridges were always stocked and an honour system prevailed - if you took a beer you simply left the money on the dresser. Great days!"
Married at 23 to Christine, a union which produced children Kelly and Adam, he lasted three more years before again jumping sideways and up, much like a knight in chess, to a stint with Gillette. "People ask me about selling but I was never afraid to approach people and my life has always involved meeting lots of different people so sales were simply a natural extension of my life." Then another career change working for Scott Bonnar which led Bruce to golf and bowls courses. "It dawned on me that there were an awful lot of golf courses which needed new machinery and to have their greens revitalised so in 1975 I established Programmed Turf Maintenance. The team became so good that they could turf an entire course in two days. We brought in tonnes of sand for the Kooralbyn course and I invented a grooming reel which would make the grass on bowling greens tighter but smoother."
In 1981 Bruce's marriage broke down, he sold his business and looking for something to do, started work for Brendan Edwards at Club Pacific. "Sport and fitness was something I enjoyed and I needed something to do. That gave me a thought about organising tennis and golf days. I established Sports Fun International and we ran events - didn't make a lot of money but we had some great parties," he grins. "At the same time I set up hot dog stands to operate outside the night clubs in Surfers Paradise. Backpackers would run them and I used to set it all up in my unit and then deliver the buns and sausages to the vendors." Those famous parties led then to another career change. "Ken Oliver was setting up Logan Farm frozen vegetables and I went to work with him. I became the buyer for all the produce which involved trips to America and buying massive amounts of vegetables."
By 1988 the entrepreneur in Bruce surfaced again when he established I.Q.F. Foods which at its peak was buying 1000 tonnes of capsicums per annum. That business is still operating and ever the one to find an opportunity, he and former F1 champion Alan Jones, went into business using the Malaysian Grand Prix circuit for an international driving academy. "Alan and I had a lot of fun with that but we ran into problems with some government officials and so I again changed direction. I had nothing to do and in 2002 the opportunity came up to establish Tooley's. In all it cost $1 million to set up and it took awhile for me to get used to running a restaurant. In the end it was great, the customers were fantastic and we never had any trouble but I decided to sell at what was a good time. My main business now is 'Compost Direct' which came about when I was visiting a mushroom grower and saw this compost going to waste. I had it all checked out by agricultural scientists, made an offer to buy the excess from the mushroom growing process and I've been doing this for four years."
If diversity is the spice of life, Bruce Toole would qualify as highly seasoned. His attitude of 'let's give it a go' has meant that he has a lifetime of wonderful memories.
Bruce Toole
I was born in: Melbourne in 1947
I arrived on the Gold Coast: The family moved to Brisbane in 1954 for a few years and we would come down to Surfers for weekends
I moved here: In 1981 because I had a business renovating golf courses
I called the Gold Coast home: When I joined the Volunteer Coast Guard in 1982
Source http://www.goldcoast.com.au/
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