Speaker: Paul Harper

Paul is the quintessential tree-changer. Having grown up in rural Sydney and most recently calling the inner-city Pyrmont home, he longed for a move to open spaces, fresher air and a more meaningful community. In 2001 Paul graduated with a ‘first of its kind’ degree in Internet Science and Technology and worked within the IT industry for 10 years before starting his own cloud computing consultancy. Over the ensuing 5 years he advised and assisted both large listed firms and small independent business and Not for Profits, on their business processes and migration to internet based business technologies.

Having grown his business to multi-million dollar revenues, he successfully steered the asset toward an acquisition by Deloitte Consulting. Shortly thereafter Paul and his wife Victoria moved back to her childhood home on the Coffs Coast. Together they created the vision and in turn developed the concept of Cedar Bar & Kitchen,  a family oriented, relaxed drinking & dining experience housed in a 110 year old Methodist church.

Paul is excited to share the story behind this Bellingen based start-up, a story centred around delivering exceptional customer experiences via traditional hospitality, fresh, simple yet amazingly tasty dishes featuring locally and regionally sourced ingredients, as well as educating guests on food provenance, seasonality and paddock-to-plate ideology. He will share with audiences,  the challenges and opportunities discovered whilst creating a culinary tourism destination and an insight into the formation of a regional food collective, aimed at promoting agri-tourism on the Coffs Coast.