About us
The Garden Collective is all about good times and bringing people together. Grabbing a beer, enjoying a moment, sharing music, food, and creating connections that make life a little bit better. We believe good things grow organically when they are driven by curiosity, care, and commitment to quality. Across events, craft beer, hospitality, and food and beverage services, we work to make a positive impact on the people involved and the places where we operate.
How it happened
Nick and Charlotte Colgan took their family for a spontaneous 2‑week holiday from the UK to Croatia.
They loved it so much they decided to stay and opened The Garden Zadar, an open air lounge bar perched on the ancient walls of Zadar.
The Garden Festival started a renaissance of music festivals across the Adriatic drawing over 20.000 visitors a year, establishing Croatia as a global music destination. Have you been to one of our infamous Argonaughty parties?
That same year Barbarella’s Discotheque became an iconic late-night club and turned up the heat in style of 1970s retro design discotheque.
A pivotal year for The Garden, as the festivals moved along the coast to Tisno and The Garden Living was born, giving festival goers the chance to stay onsite in the heart of the action. Over the course of a decade dedicated to good times, we raised the bar on sound, atmosphere, and production.
Barbarella’s Discotheque was reborn as an award-winning open-air club set under the pines and stars.
The Garden Productions grew out of The Garden Festival into dedicated team, delivering world-class music events.
The Garden Brewery opened in Zagreb, extending our brand into craft beer and premium F&B. Partners Thomas Alpeza and David Plant joined the company.
We started the Full Circle pop‑up street food court to supply our events with high‑quality, diverse street food.
We added a renowned gourmet burger brand to the growing portfolio, as Submarine Burgers joined The Garden Collective.
The Garden Brewery moved into a new industrial space near its original Žitnjak site. Locals greeted the move with enthusiasm and praised the large bar with dozens of taps surrounded by a tree-filled garden. The perfect spot for good times, day or night.
We broadened our good times palate with French pasteries and Neapolitan pizzas expertly prepared by Jolie Petite Pâtisserie and Pizzeria 14.
Let the good times roll.
Board
Management board
Supervisory board
Investment approach
We focus on companies that welcome everyone, are built by the community for the community, and grow sustainably.
Our portfolio consists of experience led hospitality brands, F&B companies focusing on quality and locally sourced ingredients, and event and production concepts with wider cultural value.
Good times are created through meaningful experiences, doing things properly, sharing spaces and experiences. The Garden Collective looks for shared values, invests where good times are created intentionally and where growth can happen organically, without losing each brand's nucleus of identity.
Sustainability
Across our events, venues, beer brewing, and hospitality operations, we focus on reducing waste, reusing where possible, and partnering with organisations that share our values. The Garden Brewery, for example, combines nature-based cooling, water reuse, and low-impact landscaping/materials to reduce resource consumption and improve local environmental conditions. Entire distributions and packaging uses 100% recyclable materials, which are lighter and reduce emissions.
To the Collective, sustainability is a core goal, not just a passing thought.
Governance
These values guide all of our decisions. When we evaluate opportunities, partnerships, or operational choices, we ask:
Does this improve quality and experience?
Does it strengthen community and inclusion?
Is it responsible in the long term?
Does it make life a little better for people and place?
For us, governance starts with these questions and continues through how decisions are made.
The Collective adds value by providing access to shared expertise and infrastructure, not to centralise control; but to strengthening capabilities and raise standards.
We govern with a long-term view.