BIG Group of Companies

What BIG Group of Companies does

BIG Group of Companies is a private Australian consortium operating across hospitality, entertainment, property, tourism, and media, headquartered in Geelong, Victoria. Founded in 1998 by entrepreneur and media impresario Darryn Lyons, the group employs approximately 200 people and serves consumers, tourists, and community organizations across regional Victoria, Queensland, and southern France.

The group's operations are built on a portfolio of owned physical assets and service businesses. Hospitality and entertainment assets include the Elephant & Castle Hotel and the Homehouse Nightclub. Tourism assets include the Absolute Newell Beach resort in Queensland and the Absolute St Tropez resort in France. The group also conducts commercial property development, operates the Lyons Gallery, and runs speaking engagements led by Chairman Lyons alongside a program of major events.

Revenue is generated through transactional streams (hotel rooms, food and beverage, nightclub admission), episodic property development sales, and event and speaking fees. The group operates exclusively through direct-to-consumer channels via its owned venues; no pricing is publicly disclosed. No proprietary technology, software platform, AI/ML capabilities, APIs, SDKs, or other technical infrastructure are disclosed in the available source material, and the business model is fundamentally asset-heavy and operationally traditional.

Name

BIG Group of Companies

Legal name

BIG Group of Companies

Website

https://biggroupco.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BIG Group of Companies is a private Australian consortium founded in 1998 that operates hotels, nightclubs, tourist resorts, property development, speaking engagements, and events from its Geelong headquarters, employing 200 people across Victoria, Queensland, and France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Services

NAICS

Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (722410), Management of Companies and Enterprises (55111), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (71131)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban & Downtown Full-Service Hotels (THAGAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Nightlife Venue Groups & Operators (Multi-Location) (MPAGAIAL), Specialty & Entertainment Venue Property Management (BPAJAGAO)

Keywords

• Hospitality services
• Hotel operations
• Nightclub entertainment
• Tourism resorts
• Property development

Headquarters

HQ city

Geelong, Victoria

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Hospitality Operations: Revenue from hotels, nightclubs, restaurants, and private tourist resorts including room revenue, food and beverage sales, and entertainment services.
2. Property Development: Commercial property development and real estate operations generating development and sales revenue.
3. Events and Speaking Engagements: Major events and speaking engagements revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

BIG Group of Companies is an Australian-based hospitality, entertainment, property, tourism and media consortium. It owns and operates hotels (Elephant & Castle Hotel), nightclubs (Homehouse Nightclub), restaurants, private tourist resorts (Absolute Newell Beach in Queensland and Absolute St Tropez in France), commercial property developments, speaking engagements and major events, serving consumers, tourists and the local Geelong community.

Product overview

The BIG Group of Companies operates as a diversified consortium combining hospitality, entertainment, property, tourism, and media operations. The group manages a portfolio of distinct products including hotels (Elephant & Castle Hotel), nightclubs (Homehouse Nightclub), tourist resorts (Absolute Newell Beach in Queensland and Absolute St Tropez in France), commercial property developments, speaking engagements, and major events. Led by entrepreneur Darryn Lyons, the company employs 200 people across regional, interstate, and international enterprises from its Geelong headquarters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Absolute Newell Beach: Private tourist resort located in Queensland, Australia
• Absolute St Tropez
• Elephant & Castle Hotel
• Homehouse Nightclub

Products and services

• Elephant & Castle Hotel A hotel operated by the BIG Group of Companies in Geelong, providing accommodation, food and beverage service to travellers and local consumers as part of the group's hospitality portfolio.
• Homehouse Nightclub A nightclub venue operated by the BIG Group of Companies in Geelong, providing nightlife and entertainment services to consumers as part of the group's entertainment portfolio.
• Absolute Newell Beach Resort Queensland A private tourist resort located in Queensland, Australia, operated as part of the BIG Group's hospitality and tourism portfolio, serving domestic tourists and holiday-makers.
• Absolute St Tropez Resort France An international private tourist resort located in St Tropez, France, representing the BIG Group's international enterprise operations and serving international tourists.
• Property and Developments Commercial property development and real estate operations undertaken by the BIG Group of Companies, including property acquisitions, development and sales within its portfolio.
• Major Events Event programming and management services operated by the BIG Group as part of its portfolio of events, developments and community interactions.
• Lyons Gallery A gallery and arts venue operated as part of the BIG Group of Companies' portfolio, associated with chairman Darryn Lyons.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Redcape Hotel Group: Privately held Australian pub and hotel operator with a portfolio of community-focused venues. Directly comparable as a multi-site hospitality owner/operator serving regional and suburban Australian markets.
• Merivale Group: Privately held Australian hospitality group operating hotels, restaurants, bars, and event venues, primarily in Sydney. Comparable diversified hospitality and nightlife portfolio with event programming.
• Australian Venue Co. Privately held Australian hospitality group that owns and operates a large portfolio of pubs, bars, and hotels. Comparable multi-venue operator with similar regional and metro hospitality strategy.
• ALH Group: Owns and operates a large portfolio of hotels, pubs, and gaming venues across Australia. Comparable as a multi-venue hospitality operator with a similar diversified property-and-entertainment footprint, though at materially greater scale.

Broad incumbents

• Accor: Global hotel and resort operator with a large Australian presence across upscale and lifestyle brands. Broad incumbent whose resort and lifestyle brands overlap with BIG Group's resort portfolio.
• Event Hospitality & Entertainment: ASX-listed operator of hotels, resorts, and entertainment venues (including Event Cinemas) across Australasia. Broad incumbent offering overlapping hospitality and event programming capabilities.
• The Star Entertainment Group: ASX-listed integrated resort and entertainment operator with hotels, restaurants, and nightlife venues. Comparable as a hospitality and entertainment portfolio operator, though with much larger integrated resort assets.

Regional players

• Oscars Group: Western Australia-based family-owned hospitality group operating hotels, restaurants, and function venues. Comparable privately-held regional hospitality consortium with diversified property and event operations.
• Crystalbrook Collection: Australian-owned collection of resorts and hotels in distinctive destinations. Comparable as a multi-property resort operator with destination/leisure positioning similar to Absolute Newell Beach and Absolute St Tropez.

Others

• Delaware North: Global hospitality and entertainment operator specializing in venues, hotels, and food service at destination locations. Adjacent peer with comparable multi-vertical hospitality and event operations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/wix
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/big-group-of-companies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BIG Group of Companies