CEO INTERVIEW

Cooper Rupert

From cookery courses to pop up dining and feast experiences, Philleigh Way Cookery

School owner and head tutor – Rupert Cooper – is driven by all things foodie, but his background is far from typical.

Let’s start by talking about your journey to get where you are today. So you started life as a professional rugby player?

I’m originally from Cambridge but went to South Africa for a couple of years. Warwickshire, Worcester, played rugby for Stourbridge and then signed for Nottingham, where I spent the majority of my career.

And then when we were expecting our first child, we looked at the options of coming to Cornwall, as my wife is originally from here and her family are here. So, I approached the Cornish Pirates, I had played against them a number of times, and a struck a deal and joined in 2017, but ultimately only stayed one season. So, I was at a kind of crossroads. Do we up sticks and move for another year or two of rugby, or do we try and build a life in Cornwall?

I’ve got no particular ties to anywhere in the country, because my brother and sister live in different parts and my parents now live in France. Ironically, I had always said I would never live in Cornwall because there was nothing to do! But I’m not young anymore, don’t go out drinking every weekend, and have a young family. And I’ve found it’s a wonderful county.

So the opportunity to buy Philleigh Way Cookery School came at a good time?

It was very well timed, because I had finished playing rugby in May and I was looking for a job. I was at a bit of a dead end. I worked at my friend’s restaurant in Plymouth as head chef for a few months and then Philleigh came up and I took the business over in

I think one of December 2018. my biggest assets What would you be is that I like to talk doing if it hadn’t? to people I really don’t know to be honest. Probably something in food, but I don’t have any formal training so I don’t think my CV would have got me a job as head chef, while ironically now, it probably would. When I stopped playing rugby, I sat down and I started mapping out what I could potentially do. I was running a private catering company alongside rugby at Nottingham as well doing pop up nights and private dining, so I was already moving in that direction although I had no idea what avenue it would take.

Were you always going to work in the food industry? Where has that passion come from?

Not necessarily, but since the age of 15/16, I’d always worked in cafés and restaurants, that sort of thing. And I’ve always enjoyed hospitality. And I like food. My love of food is born from holidays to France and their culture and the way they behave with food and what it means to them.

And also my mum. I owe a lot to her in her giving me the impetus and also for being positive, saying go for it. From about the age of 12, 13, I vividly remember paying an active interest in food and how she was doing it. Jamie Oliver came on TV at the same time and it all became a catalyst. I remember Rick Stein’s French Odyssey programme from about 20 years ago and that just captivated me because I had such a good relationship with France.

The Cookery School has many strands to it, pop ups, events, weddings, courses etc. Obviously you’re in the food business, but are you providing education? Entertainment? What is it?

When people learn, they’ve got to enjoy what they’re doing, they’ve got to be passionate about it. And that means you retain the skill and knowledge. So, for the cookery school, it’s got to be enjoyable. We’ve always made sure that the days are enjoyable, and hopefully people will learn from it. But then again, some people don’t want to go on a cookery course. So, we offer a huge range of things other than just courses, as long as food and drink are at the centre of that conversation.

Has the Philleigh Way business changed much since you bought it, or are you fulfilling what it was already doing?

A bit of both, I’d say. They were already doing weddings and some feast nights in the summer, and some private dinners, as well. All those strands were operating, I’ve just probably just pushed in on to the next level. I’ve chased it more and I’ve looked to do more work. Purely because I’m a hugely competitive person and I want to put myself out there. I’ve always been competitive and I like winning!

What kind of impact did the pandemic and lockdown have?

Massive. After a year of graft to get myself where I was, and then to basically have the rug pulled from underneath my feet. And it was the successive lockdowns which was the hardest thing, we were just getting back up, and then having to close down again. It takes a huge amount of energy. The third lockdown was the hardest because I was exhausted in a mental capacity. But also, the administrative side of things was really difficult because there were people canceling and re-booking courses etc.

With weddings and food festivals, I assume summer is your busiest time?

This is a year-round business but we have peaks and troughs that allow us to improve, develop and maintain the business. January,

obviously everyone cools down, February things start to pick up, half term, then Easter then into summer you have a big volume of people. September, October, I’ve noticed that a lot of locals, people from the county will come and do courses, because it’s kind of their time to get out. And then it hits into November and you start to do Christmas and gift vouchers and Christmas presents, which is a big part of the business. So just from that, you’ve got a really steady stream of income.

And I guess during lockdown when you had to close, was that a time to work on the business. What sort of changes were you able to put in?

You name it, we probably tried it, especially in the first lockdown. I was doing HelloFresh style boxes, food delivery, takeaway nights, street food, online courses. I tried to do as many things as possible. Then we’d see what ones were not cost effective, what ones were just not worth the pain and we would refine that offering. I mean, streetfood, we still do that every now and again and I like doing that. But online courses, I think people have done with that. It may come back into fashion, but I’ve found that people want to get out there.

Because there are so many different parts to the business from cookery school to pop-ups and weddings, what’s it like juggling so many plates so to speak?

For me, personally, I think that’s why it’s good to be my own boss, because I do get – not bored of things – but I can get saturated with doing certain things. So, if I had to do courses day in day out, I would get a bit kind of tired of it. It’s the same thing where I wouldn’t want to be a full-on wedding caterer because I’d get tired of doing that after three or four months. So, the fact that I can pick and choose and every day is different, is wicked. And that’s why I love making the decisions as a business owner.

How often are you in the cookery school?

It just depends. For instance, this week I was in Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Tuesday I was with Boutique Retreats doing some stuff, and then I go to France on Sunday to do some work. So, my weeks can be vastly different.

Have you always been blessed with a business acumen?

I did business studies at GCSE and A level and I did pretty well in that, but it’s something I’ve always been interested in. I just like business, and I’ve watched Dragons’ Den for as long as I can remember! So that kind of language terminology, I’ve always been exposing myself to. Neither my mum or dad were self-employed, but I’ve always liked making the decisions.

You’ve got to be on the ball all the time

Since you’ve started up a business, you’ve put yourself about the business community and engaged with organisations like the Chamber of Commerce. Has that been important?

Yes, massively. I think just building relationships is important, because people buy from people. And I think one of my biggest assets is that I like to talk to people, I’m very personable.

And as I said, I’m not necessarily qualified in anything, but what I can do is show you and talk to you about what I believe in, and what I do.

What’s your vision for the business over the next two or three years?

I’m trying to push into doing more corporate stuff. We set ourselves a target of doing at least another 10%, 20% of corporate things this year.

And I’d like to acquire another business, maybe a café or restaurant. It’s about having a four or five pronged attack of business and revenue. And it would just be adding to that, really. We’re also trying to reduce that radius of events in Cornwall now, particularly with weddings, just to keep it a bit more local, because of the logistics and the time it takes. But I’m doing a course with Mullion Cove Hotel in April for example, so yes, I do like to get around the county.

You often hear stories of there being a lack of chefs in Cornwall. Why do you think that is?

That’s not just Cornwall, but across the whole country. Everyone’s struggling because it is such an anti-social environment. People

When people don’t need that stress in their lives! And it’s up to the industry learn, they’ve to change, and unfortunately, the got to enjoy what customers have got to change their expectations as well. You they’re doing can’t have a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. There has to be a compromise and the customer is also going to pay more. If they want to pay McDonald’s prices, don’t expect gastropub food, you get what you pay for. Because not only is the cost of goods going up, but the cost of labor is going up. And who has to swallow that? But pubs and restaurants put the prices up a pound and people throw their toys! But having said, if the pubs and restaurants are going to increase prices or demand a premium price, you must deliver the goods.

And Cornwall is a good part of the country to have a business like this. Its food and drink reputation has been rising massively in recent years.

Absolutely. We are certainly riding the wave of the Cornwall brand. There is a lot of respect and value in the brand. We have such good ingredients and resources available to us. There’s a demand from visitors to the county and for people in the county for good food and drink. And it’s also highly competitive. That’s something I noticed straight off the bat when I came down from Nottingham was how competitive the environment is. So, it drags you up. You’ve got to be on the ball all the time. sort of locals pass, show your driving license to get 10% or 15% off just to encourage that trade. But as a business, you can’t just rely on four months.

What do you like to do when you’re not cooking?

I don’t have time to do anything else! But I’m trying to be better. I’m getting hounded by all my friends and family, I need to do less work. But I enjoy what I do, I genuinely do, so it’s not like work. I find I’m constantly under pressure to perform and I like that side of it.

But I have help. Debbie, who helps me out on the courses has been a God send and has been with me from the start. And I’ve just taken on a PA, who does two to three days a week for me, who again has been a revelation, because up until then I was doing it all myself. I think anyone who’s running a business, if you want to improve and grow, you have to relinquish some of that workload.

You’ve only got 24 hours a day and having a young family, time is precious. And even now, I still work every hour possible given to me. But admin is one side of the business I’ve taken a big step back from and ironically, we’re now doing more business because of it.

Cornwall is obviously a tourist destination. Can prices sometimes be a bit high because of that, to the detriment of locals?

Potentially. It’s a tough one, because you go up to Devon and past Exeter, average wages will probably be slightly higher. So Cornish locals can sometimes be penalised because of that, because the wages are not as high here. It really is a tough one. Because it can be a very seasonal business, with those four months in the summer when they’ve got massive numbers of people here and are trying to make some money. I don’t know, maybe more businesses need to apply some

My love of food is born from Do you miss rugby at all? holidays to France I miss the camaraderie and just having that easy life! You can get swept away with the insular life you have as a rugby player, that’s your network, that’s your world, because you go from one game to the next. But when you get out into the real world, there’s lots more variable factors. It can be quite a stark contrast. So yes, I do miss the physical side of it and feeling terrible on a Sunday!

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