A BURNLEY businessman sold his company for several million pounds - before his 25th birthday.

And now former St Theodore's pupil Philip Mossop is using part of the cash to fulfil a dream of running a posh restaurant.

He has opened Bacchus in London's trendy Shoreditch area and recruited some of the top culinary staff in the world.

Phil, who regularly visits his home town to see his family including his mother who works as a midwife at Burnley General Hospital, says hard work and long hours have helped him to success.

And he claims his upbringing in Burnley has helped him thrive in the cut-throat business world of the capital by keeping him down to earth.

Phil left East Lancashire aged 18 to go to university and quickly worked his way up while studying.

Phil, whose partner is expecting a baby soon, said: "Rather than getting a job I set up my own company doing freelance sales.

"It was only small, going to local firms and doing sales for them.

"I ended up working in London for a company that had just been set up by a group of entrepreneurs. It was a waste company set up because of some new legislation.

"That developed and I had helped the business grow from scratch and in the first year had half a million pounds in turnover.

"In the end they offered me a partnership and I spent three years there."

Phil moved to London permanently and helped the business grow.

Eventually it was sold in 2005 for several million pounds, and became his first big business deal.

The restaurant is a result of that success, and has been a dream for several years.

The venue, designed to be relaxed, and fine dining in trainers' uses an unusual approach to cooking.

Head chef at Bacchus, located in a 19th-century Victorian pub, is Nuno Mendes, a Portugese chef known for working in some of the finest restaurants in the world.

And the style of cooking is sous-vide' which uses scientific approaches to food similar to that employed by legendary chef Heston Blumenthal in his Fat Duck' restaurant which was voted best in the world last year.

The style uses laboratory-standard equipment to prepare and cook food, rather than traditional cookers. Unusual tastes can be created for the menu, such as beetroot cake.

Phil said: "The restaurant was a result of the success I have had which has made me quite a lot of money.

"It was hard work, very hard work. I haven't been without a job for the last five years, and it's been seven days a week, 12 hours a day.

"London is very very competitive and it's very tough to get by.

"I think coming from Burnley has helped me enormously in that way."