Hamish Fleming and Siobhan Blumann didn’t plan on being publicans. They weren’t even interested in working in hospitality. But as a result of being in the right places at the right times – a stint in vibrant Hong Kong; living and working in Melbourne and seeing firsthand the cultural shift brought about by the city’s tiny laneway bars – the couple’s destiny seemed pretty much preordained when they arrived in Perth in 2004.

At first they just served burgers, with the opening of the original Flipside in 2006. But three years on, the couple decided to expand their horizons and ask the landlord if they could take over the lease for the space next door. And so Mrs Brown was born – one of the state’s first small bars and a vital part of North Fremantle’s bustling Queen Victoria Street. This month, the bar celebrates 10 years of watering, feeding and hosting the neighbourhood.

“I can’t believe we’re suddenly the old people in the industry,” laughs Fleming, a former Victorian who now calls Perth home.

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At a time when the hospitality industry seems to be in constant turmoil, this milestone is something of an achievement for the Mrs Brown team. The accidental publicans talk to Broadsheet about their journey and share some of the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

On the value of the neighbourhood bar
Siobhan Blumanm: I remember back in the uni days you’d catch up with mates at the Shents [Shenton Park Hotel] or the Swannie [Swanbourne Hotel] but these places and so many others don’t exist anymore. We loved Fremantle during the day but as people with kids, we were after somewhere to go at night that still felt like it had a neighbourhood vibe. But at the time, Freo was still about big pubs and nightclubs. There was a real anticipation about us opening and we were very busy without much fanfare from the start. It suggested that our vibe about what Perth was lacking was correct.

On naming the bar
SB: I was at a mother’s group with my third child and someone asked me, “What are you calling the bar?” and I said, “I don’t know, we’re throwing around names. I just wish Queen Victoria had a nickname.” And they said, “She did: Mrs Brown.” [The name came from the monarch’s close relationship with John Brown, a servant of her late husband, Prince Albert.] I rang Hamish straight away and said, “It’s Mrs Brown” and he said “Yup, done”.

On the wonder of ignorance
Hamish Fleming: We found our public interest assessment (PIA) submission recently and it was six pages, double-spaced. I don’t know if you’ve seen the PIAs of today, but they’re like a hundred pages. We double-spaced ours to try to fill it out a bit. In hindsight, lodging our application was really easy.

On the importance of testing the waters
HF: We went in softly and applied for a license for 70 people. That’s 35 couples which isn’t very many people. We didn’t do the outside courtyard and only had the inside two rooms. We didn’t want to push the boat too far out because we didn’t want to annoy anyone or liquor licensing. It’s also a reality of investment. We wanted to prove there was demand before we expanded out the back.

On building furniture properly
HF:A piece of furniture we still have in the front window wasn’t that well put together on the first night and was covered in glassware and lots of people. The whole thing collapsed. The first night was pretty terrifying.

On the wonder of ignorance (part II)
SB:We didn’t know what we didn’t know, and we certainly didn’t know much, but you learn on the job. With Flipside, it was very much learning everything as we went and asking for help in the industry, but when we went into bars, it was a matter of hiring the right people and letting them do their thing. That’s kind of the model we’ve taken since: to hopefully hire the right people and let them run their own businesses without too much micromanagement. Your team enjoys the trust you place in them and the ability to run the business like it was their own.

On following trends
HF: The first beer we had on tap was Beck’s, which reflects that, 10 years ago, the craft beer market was nowhere near what it is today. Nowadays, we’re seeing that change in the abundance of craft spirits and the evolution towards natural wines. Being a small bar, you have that flexibility to easily change your product offering, but there are also things we get in for customers. We don’t have an ego about things. There’s a brand of beer that some customers like that we wouldn’t normally carry, but we stock it because they asked for it.

On ignoring trends
SB: Mrs Brown has never tried to be cool. It’s just stayed true to what it is, which is like that communal lounge room of a shared house. Out of all of our venues, it’s the one that we love sitting at by ourselves at the bar. North Fremantle’s strong community feel, we think, does play a part. You might get off the train and go, “I’ll just stop and go down to Mrs Brown.” You’ll always bump into someone you know.

On the power of family
SB: We didn’t have grand plans to end up in hospitality. We were meant to sell Flipside in its first year. It’s funny how life plays out. You start having kids and you find that you really enjoy the staff that are part of your team and then they become part of the family. We actually see a whole lot of grown-up Flipside staff who in their 20s are still maintaining their friendships, and Mrs Brown becomes a gathering place for them. We’ve also seen people come here with their teenage kids who are now grown up and married and having their own kids and still coming down for a drink at Mrs Brown or a burger and a beer. That’s been really nice for us to see another generation coming down to enjoy the venue.