The 21-year-old is no stranger to hospitality, working in the industry since he was 16, picking up glasses at a venue in town, before moving on to managing Gypsy Bar just before lockdown in March 2020.
The takeover process has been five months in the making, starting as a partnership idea before changing to the sale of the business.
“I expected a lot with the takeover, but it's still more than I expected,” Mr Coad said.
“There's still a lot to do.”
Mr Coad is currently planning changes and the addition of more events taking place over the summer, but for now is happy to learn from the existing staff and OPT team.
“I want to get in and understand it all,” he said.
“We've still got key staff members, and Ben (the previous owner) has been helpful for me.”
Mr Coad has received support from the community since taking over.
“Everything's been really positive, they've been saying congratulations,” he said.
“I did hold off from doing something like this because I thought I'd be judged because of my age, or that people would think that I wasn't ready and whatnot, but I decided to ignore it.
“I've done the work behind the scenes to learn investing and business, and hospitality is what I left school for. It's been everything to me, particularly late night and entertainment and events — all of the above really applies to this venue, so it made sense, it's familiar.
“Expect little changes at the start, but then in summer there will be big changes, and some extra events to what people are used to seeing at OPT.”
OPT Echuca will be open until late on Saturday nights, as soon as Victorian COVID restrictions allow dancefloors to be open.
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