"We did one particular event for Pfizer which turned out to be a success and that eventually led to us getting contracts for Facility Management at their plant. That was a big step up for us. We had experience from the bar in catering and event management for one-off nights, but you can be the world's best wedding planner yet still be a total failure when it comes to facility management. The demands are different because it requires day to day running and a high level of consistency."

Having already secured the prized Multi-national's contract, Colin, James and co were given a significant seal of approval when Cork City Council asked them to look after their multi-award-winning education centre, the Lifetime Lab.

"The facility management aspect of the business is about professional presentation, packaged conveniently, made flexible, all delivered at a reasonable cost. If your company is not in a position to offer meal facilities for example, we can assist you in that aspect of the business. It's important to do this absolutely right because these companies are entrusting us. Alongside the Lifetime Lab and Pfizer we're also providing facility management for the Cork Education Support Centre, so we're now in the process of building up a blue-chip list in the hopes of attracting more customers. We're very interested in taking on more facility management work. It's not huge amounts of money by any accounts, but it's steady work.

"Weddings and other such flashy events on the other hand are different – everything again has to be spot on, but it's a one-off event with so much going on and where so many things can go wrong. So it's more pressure but the rewards are great, particularly when you've helped to make someone's special day the event they had imagined."

And the future? "We're also hoping to do more product launches and corporate catering events. These are areas we feel we particularly specialise in we're actively looking to take on more work. Also, we are bringing a new Managing Partner in to look after our Prime Restaurant and afternoon bar food. We are the steak specialist in Cork, and we intend to maintain that, so we've got some big plans for the future of the restaurant."

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment