When Tom O’Toole returned to Beechworth, Victoria, 34 years ago, it was a dying town. Travelling had taught him the value of tourism. “I saw Beechworth with fresh eyes,” he says and, as a result, he bought the old bakery.

“It was bankrupt, rat infested, falling down,” he recalled. That didn’t stop him. “I thought, bloody hell, I’m going to invite people to visit Beechworth. Everyone thought I was mad.”

O’Toole, who left school at fourteen and says he’s “as thick as a brick”, is credited as the most dramatic example of a small businessman turning around the fortunes of an Australian country town.

“Now it’s very vibrant, very upmarket, a totally different town,” he says. Banking on his success (Beechworth Bakery now turns over $3-4 million a year and employs seventy-six staff), O’Toole has since opened another six bakeries across regional Victoria.

“We are very middle of the road, very accessible, we’re very family oriented,” he says. “If you’re in a rural town you either grow or die. It’s about getting out there and being part of the community. Success is being able to live the life I choose, and, I choose to be a baker in regional Australia.”