Philip Reynolds | How I Built a €500 Million Business

About this episode

What does it really take to build a €500 million business, and what happens when everything you have spent decades building is suddenly destroyed?

Philip Reynolds joins Unfiltered with Sarah Jane Foster to share the story behind a career that began at C&D Foods at just 18 years old, and the night a devastating factory fire left the business facing an uncertain future.

He opens up about taking over the family business at 25, growing it across Europe, the loneliness of making difficult decisions and why, despite the scale of what he has built, he still does not consider himself an entrepreneur.

A candid conversation about leadership, family legacy, resilience, the people around the table, and the decisions that define a career.

Key takeaways

• Taking over the family business at just 25
• The night the factory fire destroyed everything
• Why Philip chose to go again rather than cut and run
• Growing C&D Foods to €500 million in sales across Europe
• Growing up as one of seven children of Albert Reynolds
• Why Philip does not consider himself an entrepreneur
• The loneliness of making difficult decisions
• Why people can ultimately be the biggest disappointment in life
• How AI could have helped him build teams and lead organisations
• The importance of surrounding yourself with the right people

About Philip Reynolds

Philip Reynolds is a businessman and investor, and the former CEO of C&D Foods, the international agribusiness founded by his father, former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.

Philip joined the family business at 18 and took over its leadership at just 25, when the company was generating approximately €10 to €15 million in turnover and employing around 40 to 50 people.

He went on to oversee its expansion into a major European operation, with seven factories, nine international sales offices and €500 million in sales, rebuilding the business after a devastating factory fire along the way.

Chapters

1. 00:00 Meet Philip Reynolds
2. 00:18 Growing Up As Albert Reynolds' Son
3. 01:20 Was The Reynolds Family Wealthy?
4. 02:47 The Pressure Of A Famous Family Name
5. 04:40 How Albert Reynolds Became Taoiseach
6. 06:20 Driving His Father Around Ireland
7. 08:05 Celebrating In Longford
8. 09:51 Where Philip's Ambition Came From
9. 11:46 Joining C&D Foods At 18
10. 12:38 Taking Over The Business At 25
11. 15:29 How C&D Transformed Edgeworthstown
12. 17:09 Lessons From Leading A Workforce
13. 20:07 How Albert Reynolds Started C&D Foods
14. 21:34 Growing The Business To €100 Million
15. 22:35 The Devastating Factory Fire
16. 23:26 The Phone Call That Changed Everything
17. 24:24 Rebuild Or Walk Away?
18. 25:13 The Road To €500 Million
19. 26:43 Rebuilding After The Fire
20. 28:14 Risk, Resilience & Moving Forward
21. 29:08 The Decision To Sell C&D Foods
22. 30:48 How Brexit Impacted The Business
23. 31:33 Moving On Without Regret
24. 32:38 Life After C&D Foods
25. 34:29 Building His Next Venture With AI
26. 36:39 Making Entrepreneurship Accessible
27. 38:46 Why Founders Cannot Succeed Alone
28. 40:17 Why AI Is The New Internet
29. 43:41 Protecting Your Identity In An AI World
30. 44:40 What Founders Misunderstand About AI
31. 45:26 Why Irish Companies Can Succeed At Home
32. 47:08 Are Irish Entrepreneurs Undervaluing Themselves?
33. 48:28 His Smartest Financial Decision
34. 48:57 His Biggest Money Mistake
35. 49:18 The Most Expensive Lessons In Business
36. 50:55 Advice For First-Time Founders
37. 52:43 Knowing When To Step Aside
38. 54:59 Why People Can Be The Biggest Disappointment
39. 56:46 The Hard Truth About Entrepreneurship
40. 57:30 The Loneliness Of Leadership
41. 58:28 Why Philip Doesn't Consider Himself An Entrepreneur
42. 59:51 The Daily Habit Behind His Success
43. 01:01:58 Horse Ownership & Presenting Percy
44. 01:02:40 The Unfiltered Quick-Fire Round
45. 01:03:58 His Father's Advice About Difficult Times
46. 01:09:09 Who Philip Calls For Business Advice
47. 01:10:45 Final Thoughts

Transcript (preview)

Sarah Jane Foster (00:00): Philip Reynolds took over his family business at just 25 and grew to 500 million euro in sales. He's the son of former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, a businessman, investor and now he's building his next venture. Philip Reynolds, you're very welcome to the podcast.

Philip Reynolds (00:16): Thank you very much. Delighted to be with you.

Sarah Jane Foster (00:18): Now, Philip, tell me this. Growing up as the son of Albert Reynolds, what was that like?

Philip Reynolds (00:24): Give you a bit of background because there's seven of us, there's sort of seven children when dad went into politics in 1977. So when he went in, I was 12, 13 years of age. I have an elder sister, so she would have been 14. And there's seven of us in 11 years. So the youngest would have been only three or four years of age. So. And it was only me. Poor mom. So you can imagine what the household was like. So being the son of Albert Browns wasn't exactly now the greatest fun at that stage. And he was away, he was gone all the time. Because if it wasn't in the show band businesses before he went into politics, it was in politics. So we had a, a single parent and that was my poor mom. So that's what being the son of Al looked like in the early days.

Sarah Jane Foster (01:12): A little bit chaotic then with all the, all your brothers and sisters.

Philip Reynolds (01:15): Absolutely.

Sarah Jane Foster (01:15): So where were you then in the family?

Philip Reynolds (01:17): Second.

Sarah Jane Foster (01:17): You were the second?

Philip Reynolds (01:18): Yeah. So Mariam was the eldest. Yeah.

Sarah Jane Foster (01:20): Okay. I love it. So tell me this. So people often assume them political families have wealth. What was your reality and how did it shape your drive?

Philip Reynolds (01:28): Wealth. Yeah, I don't think, I don't know that you would describe us as, as, as being a wealthy family, but we didn't need for anything either. So in that regard we had, we had sufficient to get by. So. But dad, I think dad sort of was a product of his showband business years. So he was always smartly dressed and he always sported a nice suntan, so. And always drove a nice car. So I think people looking at him from the outside would probably have thought that he was a far more wealthier man than perhaps he was. But, but no, we, we were, we were, we certainly weren't poor in any sense and we certainly weren't poor in terms of the love, care and attention that we got at home either. So, yeah, if that was, if that was wealth, then we had plenty of it.

Sarah Jane Foster (02:21): Love it. So where, where was the family home then?

Philip Reynolds (02:24): The family's home was in Longford.

Sarah Jane Foster (02:25): Okay.

Philip Reynolds (02:26): Yeah.

Sarah Jane Foster (02:26): Until you're a Longford man, Philip. I am, I was claiming you as our own a West Mead man?

Philip Reynolds (02:31): Well, sure. I mean, we've always claimed West Mead as part of our own as well when dad was in politics. So any connections we could forge with Mullingar and beyond, we did it so that we could a few extra number ones in it for him. So I don't mind you claiming me as your own knight. That's fine for me.

Sarah Jane Foster (02:47): Fair enough. So tell me, did the family name add pressure or create freedom to pursue your own path?

Philip Reynolds (02:53): I don't think it was. I don't think it was pressure. I mean, I was in boarding school. I went to ross grave for five years between 77 and 82, so. And I said dad went into politics in 77. He became minister for the first time in 79, and then he kind of was either Minister or of some description or Taoiseach there afterwards. So for my early years, and for his early years in politics, I was in. I was in Russ Gray. So if you're in a boarding school of 300 lads, you know, you don't get to stand on your graces. So being a Reynolds didn't really matter. It didn't matter to certainly today Cistercian monks. It didn't matter what your surname was, so it didn't impact that much. But when you were home, you would be conscious that if you were out, you would be conscious, I think, that, you know, everybody was a voter at the end of today and you would be hoping that we wouldn't turn too many of them off voting for him. So we might watch our P's and Q's, perhaps a little bit more than the others might do, you know, but more than that, no. Did it help? It certainly didn't hinder us in terms of what we wanted to do as children. So. But growing up in Longford as a Reynolds, there was another Reynolds family. My brothers or my father's brother also lived there and was quite, quite the businessman in Longford as well. And he owned the Longford Arms Hotel and of course he owned all the nightclubs as well. So being a Reynolds in that regard was definitely a help, even though I used to claim I was Jim's son rather than Albert's son, so that I could get into all these places for free. So I love that. So definitely. No, the name didn't. The name wasn't a hindrance for sure.

Sarah Jane Foster (04:40): Right, okay, so tell us, so when your dad actually became Taoiseach, so what was. How long in advance did you know that he was going to become the Taoiseach and then when he finally did, what was that like?

Philip Reynolds (04:50): Well, we didn't know that he was going to become Taoiseach because he got sacked by Charlie because he came out against Charlie over the whole phone tapping crisis at that stage. And so he got sacked as Minister for Finance.

Sarah Jane Foster (05:08): What was that? I actually don't know about that.

Philip Reynolds (05:12): The whole. Why he got sacked?

Sarah Jane Foster (05:13): No.

Philip Reynolds (05:14): Oh yeah, because. Well, there was. I can't remember what the name of the program was now, but Sean Daugherty went on one program on RTE and said that Charlie had knew about tapping journalists funds. And so dad rolled in behind Sean Daugherty, who was at fault, TD from Roscommon. And dad wrote in behind him and supported his view that, you know, that that wasn't kosher, so to speak. And anyway, Charlie ended up sacking him, so. And then there was a move against Charlie at the time and I think dad was seen to be the main orchestrator of that. So having been very good friends for a long time, the pair of boys fell out. So dad found himself without a job. But then the momentum carried and it looked like Charlie was in trouble and eventually Charlie had to resign and then it became an election for leader. So I do remember traveling the country with them that stage where he would have to canvass all of the TDs, senators. Oh, gee, how old was I? I was in my mid-20s.

Sarah Jane Foster (06:20): Early.

Philip Reynolds (06:20): Okay, mid-20s. Late mid to late 20s. Yeah. So anyway, I knew I was. I was able to drive anyway because I used to drive my. Because he had never driven because as I said, he became a minister in 1977, 1979. And from that year forward he was either in government or out of it for a very short space of time. But he hadn't had a driver's license since he went into politics, so he never drove himself after he got involved in politics. So during that period when he was sacked, I ended up being his chauffeur. So for when he wanted to canvas any TDs around the country, I was the one that was driving him. So I remember the Independent were running a poll, a telephone poll, as to who would be the next leader of Fianna Fall. I remember going to Foxford with them down in County Mayo to see two TDs there to canvas their support in the coming leadership election. And the whole way down in the whole band, mobile phones had just been launched and we're all very excited about this. Only the whole way down and the whole way back in the car, we were ringing the Independent telephone pole and etched in my memory is you've just voted for Albert Rans to be the next leader of Fianna Fall. You've just voted for Albertans next leader, Fianna Fall. I don't know what my telephone bill was like when I got back to Dublin that night. But the whole way down to May and the whole way back I voted for him to be the next leader of Fianna Fall. So the poll came out on the Sunday and he. He was. He was head of the poll ahead of Bertie Ahern, Mary o', Rourke, Michael Kennedy and I can't remember.

Sarah Jane Foster (07:48): Wow.

Philip Reynolds (07:49): Yeah. So we didn't know other than I had a hefty telephone bill for ensuring that I did the best marketing campaign I could for him. And so it turned out that he became Taoiseach. So. Yeah, that was 1990. 90. 90, Yeah.

Sarah Jane Foster (08:03): That's incredible.

Philip Reynolds (08:04): Yeah.

Sarah Jane Foster (08:05): So what was the celebrations like then when he became T shirt?

Philip Reynolds (08:07): Fantastic, because we brought him back to Long.

Sarah Jane Foster (08:11): Where did you go with the Longford Arms?

Philip Reynolds (08:13): Well, sure, where else could you support. You had to support the uncle. But there was a big not. It was a big. It was very nice because there was a big welcome farm in Longford and the courthouse and Longford is next door to the Longford Arms. So there was a huge gathering of on the main street there in Longford and he addressed them off the flat roof and the courthouse and it was fantastic. But it had been the same when he got elected back first in 1977 as well. So it was just repeating. But yeah, the people of Longford were. Were very good to him.

Sarah Jane Foster (08:44): That's incredible. I'd say it was electric. So then when he became Taoiseach, then was it like, were you more exposed in the media then and was that a big transition for your family to have like the spotlight on your family constantly? Nobody gives you a handbook on how to deal with that.

Philip Reynolds (09:01): No, no. But my mom was. My mom needed no handbook. A wooden. A wooden spoon is all my mum needed. Yeah. And she made sure she kept us in. So. No, I don't think it was. I don't think it was that much different. I mean, I can maybe say that more than the others because I was older than the others. So.

Sarah Jane Foster (09:21): Okay.

Philip Reynolds (09:22): I'd say if you asked, like, as I said to you, there's seven of us and that's five girls and two boys. So I'd say if you asked the tail end of the family, they might have a different answer for you than. Than. But at that stage, like I was in business and I wasn't too, if I wasn't married. Well, when he became Taoiseach, I was married myself. So, you know, I had my own situation, so it didn't impact me perhaps as much. But as I said, I'm sure if you asked the rump of the family, they might give you a slightly different answer to that.

Sarah Jane Foster (09:51): I can imagine. So, Philip, when you think about ambition, where did yours come from? Like your upbringing, personality, or do you think it was the environment that you were brought up in?

Philip Reynolds (10:02): Well, I mean, sure, ambition. What's ambition other than trying to, you know, do the best you can and succeed as much as you can, and doesn't really matter what sort of walk of life you're in or what you're actually doing in life. If you do the best you can, that's as good as you can be expected to do or you can do. So was it our upbringing? I mean, again, as I said, there's seven of us, and within the seven of us, we have everything from, you know, a judge to an investment banker to myself to a housewife to a fundraiser. So we have everything in the seven of us. And I would say we're all ambitious insofar as we all want to do the best we can in terms of what we're doing, whether that is, you know, rearing a family or whether it's. It's running a business. So. And I would say that in part does come from the environment in which we were brought in, brought up in. But it's also then clearly a sense of. Of what it is and how you value. And what. Value yourself and what it is that you want to do with your own life. So, I mean, for me, my summers were always working in the factory in Edwardstown, so I think I had it figured out fairly early on that it was business I wanted to be in, whereas I said some of my. My other siblings went other routes and I would say have all been as successful, if not even more successful or ambitious than I've been. So it's about doing the best you can in whatever walk of life you're in. And I think to the extent that we've done that, I think we've all been ambitious. If that's. If that's.

Sarah Jane Foster (11:46): Yeah, yeah. I love that you're very humble, Philip. Tell us. I want to go back to the early days of C and D. So what was the early days of C and D like for you personally?

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