Clifford Chance

From Clifford Chance to co-founder at HelloFresh UK and TV chef, Patrick is now living the foodie dream in the United States.

Patrick joined Clifford Chance’s London office as a trainee in 2003 and left as an associate in 2007, working in the General Banking team. But that only begins to tell his story – one which was dominated by food as much as law.

Whether it was spending his lunchbreaks in the firm’s fine dining kitchen or swapping his pinstripes for chef’s chequered trousers after work, Patrick’s passion for food eventually overtook his legal ambitions. He then started an incredible journey that saw him co-found the UK iteration of meal kit giant HelloFresh before moving on to foodie heaven – LA.

He believes the firm taught him two elements essential to making that journey. The first is stamina. He explains that as a trainee lawyer “you learn how to work hard and when you move into the start-up world being able to dig into those reserves definitely helps”. The next is the literary skills he honed at Clifford Chance, which proved vital when writing the very first HelloFresh recipes, “Learning how to explain a legal process really clearly, so that the reader could not get it wrong, directly linked to the way I started writing recipes,” he explains. It also inspired the straightforward style of the 2018 HelloFresh cookbook he would go on to write called Recipes that Work.

His first big break came in 2007 when, while still working at the firm, he got the opportunity to star in a network pilot for a US cookery show. This meant his first experience of the media world was being surrounded by a crew of 25 and feeling his throat tighten when the director shouted ‘action’. Despite the steep learning curve, it made him even more sure that food, rather than law, was the way ahead for him. He acknowledges it was a tough decision to leave the firm later in 2007, especially as the US cookery show pilot was not picked up, but his faith paid off.

Fast forward to 2012 and, after a spell as vegetable peeler and erstwhile apprentice to Heston Blumenthal, he got not one but two offers he couldn’t refuse. The first was to star in another TV cookery show, this time in Italy, and the second was to help a small group starting HelloFresh UK from scratch.

“We didn’t have any staff, so my job was creating the recipes then cooking them, then learning how to photograph and film them. I also became a spokesperson and did a lot of brand work,” he explains of those early days, remembering that, “We packed the first 10 paper bags of HelloFresh in my living room, using ingredients from local supermarkets”.

Patrick recalls how it was an uphill battle for a long time because meal kits were a new category in the food sector so it took time to build momentum. It clearly paid off, as HelloFresh now has operations across the world, a stock market valuation of €11.5 billion and is attracting a host of new customers during the pandemic.

In 2019, Patrick decided it was time to set off on his own again, following his old mantra that, “If you don't have a plan for yourself, somebody else will. And guess what? Their plan isn't as much fun”, he says.

His next destination was LA where he now splits his time between advising other start-ups, his online cookery school The 60 Second Chef and helping commercial clients bring their brands to life.

His advice for those starting off in their careers is to take inspiration from reading about those who have gone before and studying the psychology of success. But perhaps his own motto in life could be even more useful, “Think big and be cheeky”, says Patrick with a broad smile.

*Patrick was based in Los Angeles at the time of this interview.