Ballymaloe serves up tasty €180,000 annual profit

The world-renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School served up tasty profits last year as they nearly topped €180,000.

New accounts just filed by Ballymaloe Cookery School Ltd with the Companies Office show that its accumulated profits increased by €178,758 from €2.26m to €2.43m in the 12 months to the end of August last. This, in turn, followed the school at Shanagarry in Co Cork recording profits of just under €200,000 in 2013.

The publication of the accounts coincides with thousands of ‘foodies’ descending on Ballymaloe this weekend for the third annual Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food & Wine. The festival will hear from top chefs including Kevin Thornton and April Bloomfield and other personalities from the world of food and wine.

The main driver of the success of the school is its 12-week cookery course that costs entrants €10,995. The course runs three times every year and if the 60-place course is fully subscribed, it can generate revenues of €1.979m for the school per annum.

Already, the school’s September course is booked out and there is a waiting list in the event of would-be students not taking their place. Television chef, Clodagh McKenna is just one of a number of well-known chefs to have learned their trade at Ballymaloe and to have benefited enormously. Half of the school’s graduates go on to to become professional chefs, while many others go down different avenues within the food industry.

The company’s cash pile last year increased by €109,836 from €572,514 to €682,350. Over 72 people are employed at Ballymaloe and driving force and founder of the school, Darina Allen has said previously in an interview: “We promise less, but give more than 120% in everything we do.”

On fees for the school courses, Ms Allen commented: ”We charge enough to do a really good job.”

She said that people come from all over the world to Ballymaloe to participate in the course. The documents show that the 66-year-old founder of the business retains a 50% share in the firm with members of the Allen family owning the remaining 50%.