Just deserts

UNDER THE RADAR:  PHELIM BYRNE is something of a rarity these days - a mild-mannered, soft-spoken media chef who doesn't feel the need to lace every sentence with an expletive.

Nevertheless, the 28-year-old Wexford native is still managing to make a name for himself in the southeast with his fledgling culinary business, Phelim Byrne Professional Catering Services.

Employing two full-time and two part-time staff, Byrne's business interests include running the Phelim Byrne Cookery Academy, developing his fine foods range, providing a premier outside catering service for functions, as well as serving up a daily lunch service to the business community in Wexford.

Despite working as a chef in a number of top establishments, including a stint in the five-star Park Hotel in Kenmare and four years as head chef at the prestigious Dunbrody House Hotel, Byrne had a burning desire to do his own thing. Just over a year ago, he took the plunge and set up his own catering service and cookery school.

The cookery academy - which offers a range of courses to suit all levels of skills, interests and tastes, including a four- to six-week course, an intensive 10-week programme and even one-night classes - accounts for half of the business.

"It sits up to 12 people," explains Byrne.

"It's like a sushi bar. People sit in around me for cookery demonstrations. It's not like a classroom."

The outdoor catering service is also making a name for itself at weddings and anniversary parties. "We probably have about 10-12 weddings booked for this year. I have a couple of full-time staff and more than 50 staff we can call on for the big events such as weddings or finger-food functions for a few hundred people."

Byrne also has a thriving business supplying the lunchtime market in the Wexford area. The company's online ordering service has proven to be a big hit with office staff and white-collar workers.

After exhaustive market research on every single catering business in the southeast - more than 40 - he says he is aiming for the upper end of the market. As well as supplying the office workers, he also provides food for company meetings, business get-togethers and agms.

"I was trying to enter the market as market leader for quality," he says. "I wasn't going for the cheap and cheerful and trays of lasagnes. There are plenty of people doing that."

The idea of a cookery academy as well as a catering service came while Byrne was working in Dunbrody. "Dunbrody opened up the cookery school and I started teaching and I ran it full-time. After a while, I just said I can do it for myself and I can do it my way and I knew there was a market there for Wexford that hadn't been tapped yet."

Dreaming about setting up on your own is one thing; going about it is a different thing. "A good year and a half of work went into it before the doors could open," Byrne says. But he got a lucky break when doing a business start-up course at the Co Wexford Enterprise Board. At the same time, the board was putting in a specialist food unit at its centre in Wexford.

"I happened to be in the right place at the right time," says Byrne, whose business is now ensconced in that very unit.

It cost about €80,000 to set up the business, according to Byrne. Like many start-ups, it was nearly a case of "beg, steal or borrow" to get up and running.

He got a €24,000 grant from the enterprise board, plunged his entire SSIA savings into the venture, got a loan and even sold his car to get the business off the ground. But, he says, he hasn't looked back once. In its first year, the company has turned over nearly €200,000. Byrne says any profits have been reinvested into the business.

Despite the costs and risks of setting up on his own, he says he couldn't be happier. On top of his day job, he writes a syndicated cookery column for 24 local newspapers and has a fortnightly slot on South East Radio.

"The cookery school is getting great reviews and we are listed in the Bridgestone guide this year," he says. "All those things add up for me. If you're having a bad day, think back to what it was like working for someone else."

ON THE RECORD

Name:Phelim Byrne.

Age:28.

From:Blackwater, Co Wexford.

Family:Single.

Background: Byrne's career started at Kelly's Hotel in Rosslare from where, after almost three years and with a distinction from City and Guilds and a gold medal for Ireland already under his belt, he went west for a stint in the five-star Park Hotel in Kenmare. From there he went on a scholarship to Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island, in the United States. He returned home to become head chef at Dunbrody House Hotel in Arthurstown, a post he held for four years before the launch of this culinary adventure. He represented Ireland as a Eurotoque chef in the world cooking championships in Istanbul in 2004.

Most likes to:Cook. "The whole thing is a hobby as well as a business. The bonus is that the business survives and does well. The day-to-day reality of it is what I want to be doing."