![\"Staff](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5102988_2_articleinlinemobile_d8eff6d3-cb32-4dcf-b690-f0b83bb1ebc8.jpeg\" "\\"Staff")
Staff members at Soulmates outside the caf\u00e9 and bakery in Ardmore on the day it opened<\/p>\nOh, we do like to be beside the seaside, especially when the weather is good and the living is easy.<\/p>\n
However, Cork man Bill Pedder\u2019s latest venture by the coast is attracting people in all weathers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are always busy, even on rainy days!\u201d says Bill of Soulmates, a caf\u00e9, wine bar, and bakery he has opened up just over the Waterford border, on the main street of scenic Ardmore.<\/p>\n
The business is an accompaniment to Bill\u2019s already thriving Shipmates business, which opened in Ardmore 14 years ago as a takeaway. The Cork man also runs Five Roads, a take-away in Ladysbridge, which opened pre-covid, and he operates a mobile coffee truck, as well as hosting outdoor parties and functions.<\/p>\n
His new premises, Soulmates, also has a sauna in the garden and Bill explains: \u201cI wanted the Marbella beach vibe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bakery, the coffee, the wine bar, the dining area, the outdoor seating area and the sea sauna experience out in the garden lends itself to that holiday beachy atmosphere,\u201d says Bill. \u201cWe roast the pig on the spit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The smell of baking permeates the salty sea air.<\/p>\n
Bill always appreciated his Nan\u2019s baking.<\/p>\n
Staff members at Soulmates outside the caf\u00e9 and bakery in Ardmore on the day it opened<\/p>\n
\u201cShe baked lovely scones!\u201d says Bill. \u201cAs a kid I can remember her homely kitchen and the lovely aromas coming from it when you went inside the front door. It always felt so good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill got the culinary genes and the gr\u00e1 for cooking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked in Burgess outside Killeagh when I was 14. Kathleen Fitzgerald was the chef there. She was a lovely lady.\u201d<\/p>\n
He joined the army as a gunner aged 23 and served with the Irish army in Kosovo and at other war zones overseas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did a couple of tours with the army before taking time out to go cheffing again,\u201d says Bill. \u201cI will say that the army straightened me out! I learned a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
He liked cheffing in the officers\u2019 mess at Collins Barracks in Cork, and during a stint abroad with the army.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned how to improvise using short rations,\u201d says Bill. \u201cI could feed 400 to 500 people a day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner!\u201d<\/p>\n
No mean feat?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, but the kitchen was a change of scenery and I really liked it,\u201d says Bill.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhen I took a year of absence from serving overseas, I ran Murph\u2019s in East Ferry for a year.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
He learned more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned from any mistakes! It was my first attempt at business, and it was also the year of the \u2018Beast from the East\u2019. There were very bad storms that year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill served his time in the best of kitchens.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked in Ballymaloe learning about the produce grown in the garden to use in the kitchen. Finin\u2019s in Midleton was also a great stomping ground for cheffing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill eventually wanted his own stomping ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was passionate about my ambition,\u201d he says. \u201cI was all in. When the opportunity came to open Shipmates, I went for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was he a sole operator?<\/p>\n
\u201cI was half-single!\u201d says Bill laughing. \u201cI have 17 staff working in Shipmates. It took off from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took the road to Ladysbridge and opened Five Roads five years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was driving through the village and saw the empty premises after Tasty Bites left. I rang my friend Roger Harty in Cloyne who owned it.\u201d<\/p>\n
What was the plan?<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to open an upmarket takeaway serving restaurant food,\u201d says Bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cGourmet burgers, fresh fish and chips, pulled pork, brisket of beef, as well as breakfast rolls and good coffee.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI revamped the interior and Billy Aherne, who is my friend, and who is an experienced top-class chef, is my head chef there.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
Bill and his head chef Billy are on the road a lot catering for outdoor events.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a busy operation,\u201d says Bill. \u201cI think outdoor dining became even more popular during covid. We do a lot of birthdays at people\u2019s own homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Soulmates on Main Street in Ardmore became available.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was previously a coffee shop,\u201d says Bill. \u201cOwned by Bill Perks, he was happy to lease the premises to me and helped with the drawings and architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n
They already had a connection.<\/p>\n
![\"Soulmates](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5102976_4_articleinlinemobile_7b9fc647-f65c-4e05-b996-ad2dbeb36a36.jpeg\" "\\"Soulmates")
Soulmates on Main Street in Ardmore<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave Bill\u2019s daughter Hannah her first job in Shipmates!\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill had help from his soulmates.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy managers Romeo Silverman, from Nice, France, and Lauren Fitzgerald, from Youghal, helped me to revamp it and give Soulmates the beachy relaxed vibe. They are both very artistic people and are both great workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
How did Bill create all these successful enterprises?<\/p>\n
\u201cI stayed single!\u201d he jokes. \u201cSeriously, there was a lot of hours and a lot of investment involved. You need the passion, the drive, and the power.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHaving the health and the wherewithal to manage all the elements of business and being hands-on in the business is hugely important.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
There is another important element.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting in two or three good staff at the beginning; the pattern evolves from there. The staff follow my lead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Romeo likes his role as manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is my first big boy job!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the place and the people,\u201d Lauren adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cRomeo and Lauren were here with me when the garden was still a bog and the concrete outside was still setting,\u201d says Bill. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t exactly paradise!\u201d<\/p>\n
But it had potential.<\/p>\n
Now Daniel Callaghan, from Midleton, is in his own piece of paradise out in the garden, taking care of souls by the sea at the sauna.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cPeople come from the Cliff House in Ardmore, they come up from the beach,\u201d says Daniel, who has created a little piece of heaven in close proximity to the sandy beach.\n <\/p>\n
Everyone likes the \u2018Marbella\u2019 vibe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalkers use the sauna. Sometimes, after a sea swim and a circuit on the beach, we have a yoga session and coffee from the truck on the decking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan is to have access to the sauna via a pathway from the beach. The plans are in the offing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why does Daniel think that the sauna experience in the back garden of Soulmates has proved so popular.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you come alone or with friends, the goal is simple,\u201d says Daniel. \u201cEveryone feels better than when they arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharing a freshly brewed coffee and home-made scone in the garden with Bill and Daniel, getting the feelgood drift, I can well imagine that I am in paradise or in Marbella despite the Irish wet mist.<\/p>\n
Bill doesn\u2019t let the grass grow under his feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are plans afoot to make the bakery premises here out back join up with the main restaurant so that it\u2019s all one. It will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill, 45, an entrepreneur with his crew on board and his soulmates on board, has already made great things happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome back for a cold plunge,\u201d says Daniel on my departure.<\/p>\n
Indeed, I will. It\u2019s just a matter of dusting down the bikini.<\/p>\n
Good for the body and the soul!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside, especially when the weather is good and the living…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,4257,105971,426,61,60],"class_list":["post-481931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cork-business","tag-cork-food","tag-food","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}