An enterprising couple have expanded their business delivering freshly made-to-order food directly to office desks.
Business News first revealed last November how Ben Brooker and his Polish partner Elizabeth Pietkun had launched befood.co.uk
They have since expanded from delivering on Fridays only to going round to offices five days a week.
And they have also had their own special delivery, a boy Finley, who is now nearly four months old.
Ben told Business News: Ultimately befood has gone from delivering on Fridays only to delivering five days a week with the option of same day delivery if orders are placed before 11am.
‘From the humble beginnings delivering single portions to the IoM Business Park in September 2012, we now deliver to more than 10 major office units across Douglas with customers re-ordering week after week from our ever changing online menu.
‘With the new addition of Finley, now nearly four months old, we have had to take on a member of staff to help with morning prep.
‘Elizabeth’s main job is now being Finley’s personal assistant but she still manages to create our amazing soups and develop new and interesting sandwich and salad ideas every week.
‘The website itself has also evolved greatly over the last 10 months from a very simple ‘submit form’ style ordering facility to the now, fully fledged e-commerce website.
‘This in itself has been a huge learning curve for me as with no previous web developing experience the need to learn how to create a functional and stable website has been crucial to the business.
‘We still encounter the odd bug but all in all we have a solid little system allowing orders to be placed, paid for, prepared and delivered to your desk in as little as 30 mins.’
The couple had told Business News last year that they knew they were entering a world where there is plenty of competition in the island particularly in satisfying the hungry business community. But Ben said then: ‘I like to think we are offering something a little bit different.’
Ben first met Elizabeth when he popped in to a hair salon where she used to work.
‘She cut my hair and things went from there,’ he said.
The couple are very busy and Ben said the island is an ideal place in which to start up businesses.
Former Ramsey Grammar School pupil Ben, was originally destined for a life in the services but became a tree surgeon.
Ben said: ‘I’m a Manx lad brought up on mince ‘n’ spuds, Sunday roasts and apple crumble.
‘I believe that good meals come from fresh and simple ingredients. I’m passionate about sourcing Manx produce where possible and want nothing more than to bring good honest food to you good honest people.’
www.befood.co.uk