Company is Prince’s Trust Enterprise winner

Daryl Crothers, who set up his own French crepe catering company Flipping Crepes, won the regional Enterprise accolade at the Celebrate Success awards on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old received support to start up his business from the national charity, who nominated him for the award after he completed their enterprise training scheme.

Starting out with a stationary crepe stall in a few shopping centres, Daryl progressed to a portable crepe bar as well as purchasing a catering trailer for outdoor events.

The business now specialises in weddings, birthdays and private parties as well as taking part in large and small scale events all over Northern Ireland.

One of the biggest challenges which arose during the start-up stage of the business was financial, Daryl said.

“My credit rating was very low, [but] the Prince’s Trust and Invest NI gave me the confidence, information and support needed to get back on my feet and give it another go,” he added.

Meanwhile, the latest addition to the business is a new crepe and milkshake parlour on Carrick’s North Street, due to open next week.

The Prince’s Trust Celebrate Success awards aim to recognise some of the country’s most inspiring young people who have overcome barriers like unemployment, homelessness and poverty to achieve their dreams.

The regional awards ceremony, the final date in the Prince’s Trust tour of the UK, took place at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast on Tuesday evening.

Daryl will go on to represent his region in the UK-wide awards next year.