Douglas Blain was five years of age when he took control of his life. “My favourite books were Winnie The Pooh and The Wind in the Willows so all I could do, to get to that world, was dig a huge hole in my garden,” he recalls. “I grew up believing that anything was possible with a bit of brain, and a bit of go, but I had to get out of Tasmania quick smart. Hobart was tiny then, there was no connection with the outside world, and it was very boring if you were an ambitious kid.”
Douglas wasn’t just ambitious. He was clever. He had faith in himself and “a hell of a lot of gall”. His audacious determination lead, in time, to the establishment of the business partnership that is the foundation of the highly successful Hazlitt’s Hotel Group in London.
And yet,
