It shouldn't come as a surprise to find Gregory O'Gorman back in Cork as the group marketing director of the ever-expanding Kilkenny Group.

From an early age it was apparent that the Blarney native was destined to make his mark in Irish business. Coming as he does from one of Cork's best known business families, (his grandfather founded the famous Blarney Woollen Mills) the 30-year-old always had an interest in the business world.

"When I was 14 I set up my first business, selling goldfish!"

It just seemed like the natural thing to do for the young Gregory obviously influenced by family members involved in a variety of well-known businesses in the Cork area. His early venture breeding his own goldfish and selling them on was just the beginning however for Gregory.

His grandfather was ahead of his time in many ways becoming a successful entrepreneur in Cork involved in everything from the Woollen Mills to restaurants and cinemas. The following generations have taken his lead and a firm tradition of family business has been established with Gregory representing just the latest generation.

Family is never far away either in the Kilkenny Group, the successful retail chain that specialises in top-quality handmade Irish brands like Waterford Crystal, John Rocha, Orla Kiely, Newbridge, Alan Ardiff, Stephen Pearce, Louis Mulcahy and many, many more. Gregory's mother Marion is the group's Chief Executive while his sister Michelle is running the newly opened Cork city store on Emmet Place.

Gregory says, "The opening of the Cork store is an important step and its location is designed to appeal to local people". That's the ethos at Kilkenny who you might be surprised to hear sell 80 per cent of their wares to the domestic market. The idea is simple, yet effective, to provide the very best in Irish design, whether its fashion, jewellery, pottery or crystal to Irish people.

Like so many Corkonians Gregory hasn't always worked in the city of his birth. After finishing school at Presentation Brothers and Bruce College he took a marketing degree at CIT. He spent a year working in Dublin and then hit the backpacker trail spending more than a year in Australia.

He returned to Ireland and took a Masters in Business Strategy at the famous Smurfit Business School before working in London as a business analyst. From there he took the opportunity to return home, first to Galway as a retail manager for Kilkenny before taking up his current role which gave him the opportunity to return home to Cork after a year and a half in Dublin.

"I intend to stay for good now," he says. Returning home has enabled him to get back involved with Sundays Well tennis club where he was previously a member. Engaged to journalist Michelle McDonagh, with the wedding planned for next May in Spain, Gregory certainly seems content to settle in for good back in Blarney.

While his personal life is settling down, in business things don't show any signs of quietening. "We now have the new Cork store as well as another new store opening in Cashel in February or March," he says. The company will also be launching a major online store as well adding to their existing outlets in Killarney and Galway effectively doubling the company's size in a few short months. Under the separate Christy's brand the company also has an additional outlet in Killarney and one at the Cobh Heritage Centre as well.

Also running a small property investment business with a partner it seems Gregory has no intentions of putting his feet up now he's back on home turf. "I love the challenge," he says. "Every day is different and it's great to be able to contribute at this level in business."

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