Celebrating Welsh Start Ups: Taste of Turner 

13/02/23

This week, Business in Focus celebrates the achievements of Simon Turner an entrepreneur and business owner who runs his own mobile food unit, ‘Taste of Turner’.

Simon specialises in serving home-cooked Caribbean food with a unique Welsh spin, but his journey to setting up his business wasn’t an easy road. During the pandemic, Simon began to struggle with his mental health and had hit an all-time low after being put on furlough from his previous scaffolding job. Adding to the pressure, he also had the responsibility of home-schooling three of his daughters.

He had the idea of starting his own business while rummaging through a box of letters with handwritten recipes that his grandfather had left him. He had confidence that these recipes were exceptional and decided to leave his job and start his own business. Simon initially started small, took orders online and did a few casual stints based on orders he received. During lockdown, he also tried to raise money and cook for the NHS, he worked with the Penarth Rugby Club once a month and provided meal preparation support for his wife’s gym clients. While Simon was finally doing what he loved he still had big dreams of setting up his own mobile food unit. He said, “I was blown away with the response to my creative cooking, quickly growing a huge following on social media.”

Simon approached Business in Focus to obtain specialist business support and apply for a loan through the Start Up Loans programme. He not only received valuable business advice, but also managed to secure a loan which helped him buy his catering van and support his employee wages for the first year of his business. Simon says, “Despite being nervous Lisa, my business advisor, was committed and believed in me every step of the way and has helped changed my life.” Simon is very ambitious about the future of Taste of Turner and hopes to expand his business. He credits Lisa and the team for helping him fulfil his dream.

If you have a dream to create a business, Business in Focus can support you.