Dave and Dawn Gillespie held the lease on the Bannockburn Hotel from 2006 to 2011.

On 25 Jan 2009, a mini tornado struck the hotel and tore a large part of the roof off and dumped it on nearby power lines, vehicles, and int he surrounding paddocks. Luckily none of the patrons in the hotel were injured.

On 28 Aug, around 1 pm a fire broke out in a deep fat fryer in the kitchen. The staff tackled the fire with 6 fire extinguishers but it quickly took hold and the fire brigade was called. The staff and the 12 patrons who were eating lunch quickly left the building. The fire spread rapidly into the roof and through the kitchen, dining room and bar area. Volunteer fire fighters from Alexander, Clyde and Cromwell took two hours to douse the fire. The Cromwell fire chief, Steve Shaw said: " The fire had spread through the roof but had not spread to the main structure. There was a reasonable amount of damage to the roof, and water damage. " The fire investigators found the cause of the fire was a faulty thermostat on the deep fat fryer. The next day, the hotel operated the bar from the beer garden. To keep their licence, by law, they had to keep the bar open. The situation continued while the smoke and water damaged bar area was repaired. The kitchen and the dining area were closed off and rebuilt at a later date. Light means were served from the bar, but prepared in a relocatable container kitchen situated behind the hotel.

The kitchen and dining area was finally rebuilt and the hotel reopened the restaurant.

The Gillespie's lease was up for renewal, and they decided not to renew it.