O’Hehirs

What O’Hehirs does

O'Hehirs is a family-run artisan bakery founded in 1984 in Sligo, Ireland, by Breda and James O'Hehir and now operated across generations of the O'Hehir family under the legal entity BBowes Limited T/A O'Hehirs Bakery. The business produces handmade breads, pastries, celebration cakes, donuts, cupcakes, and catering items using traditional craft methods. Its core product platform centres on customizable celebration cakes (Birthday, Occasion, Character, Number, and Dripcake categories) supported by a Build-Your-Own cake configurator that lets customers select size, shape, sponge, filling, toppings, colours, and personalized messages. The product portfolio also includes cupcakes, gourmet donuts, fresh-cream pastries, sandwich platters, hot meals, and a donut-wall hire service capable of catering up to 400 donuts for events.

The company operates a click-and-collect commercial model with no delivery service. Customers browse and order through the O'Hehirs website (ohehirs.ie) and collect from any of 18 bakery-cafe locations across Ireland spanning Sligo, Galway, Donegal, Mayo, Longford, Mullingar, and Athlone, with daily central production from the Sligo bakery ensuring consistent quality. The technology stack is a standard website-based e-commerce storefront with pickup-location selection; no app, proprietary AI/ML, or delivery infrastructure is in place.

Revenue is generated from one-time unit purchases across two customer segments: Individual Consumers buying celebration cakes and treats for personal occasions, and Corporate/Enterprise Clients ordering catering (sandwich platters €32-€50, hot meals €12-€28 per 2kg portion, branded cupcakes, donut walls) for events, meetings, and office catering. The company employs 300+ staff, including craft bakers and a food-service team, and runs a dedicated corporate sales office alongside the retail network. Pricing is purely transactional with no subscription component, ranging from €24 for a small build-your-own birthday cake to €115 for a double number cake.

Name

O’Hehirs

Legal name

BBowes Limited T/A O'Hehirs Bakery

Website

https://ohehirs.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

O'Hehirs is a family-run artisan bakery founded in 1984 in Sligo, Ireland, operating 18 bakery-cafe locations nationwide that produce and sell handmade celebration cakes, breads, pastries, donuts, and corporate catering under a click-and-collect model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisan Bakery & Café

NAICS

Retail Bakeries (311811), Bread and Bakery Product Manufacturing (31181), Baked Goods Retailers (445291)

SIC

Bakery Products (2050), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Cafe-Bakeries (Bakery + Coffee/Foodservice) (THAFAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cake Shops & Custom Celebration Cakes (THAFAFAC), Retail Bakeries (Bread & Daily Bakery) (THAFAFAA), Bread & Pastry Specialty Stores (CRAHAGAC)

Keywords

• Artisan bakery products
• Celebration cakes
• Corporate catering services
• Click and collect bakery
• Sourdough bread range

Headquarters

HQ city

Sligo

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices18 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Bakery Products: One-time sales of celebration cakes, custom cakes, cupcakes, pastries, donuts, fresh cream items, and artisan breads through 18 physical cafe locations. Customers order online and collect in-store.
2. Corporate Catering: Corporate clients order catering services including sandwich platters, meals, donuts, and custom cakes for events, meetings, and office catering. Includes services like donut walls for corporate events and branded corporate cupcakes.
3. Custom Celebration Cakes: Build-your-own cake configurator allows customers to customize size, flavor, filling, toppings, and messages. Custom character cakes and occasion cakes ordered via inquiry form.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

O'Hehirs operates a family-run artisan bakery and café chain producing handmade breads, pastries, donuts, cupcakes, and a wide range of celebration cakes, sold through 18 bakery cafés across Ireland and a click & collect website. The business also offers corporate catering (sandwich platters, hot meals, branded cupcakes) and an event donut wall hire service. Customers order online and collect in-store; no delivery service is offered.

Product overview

O'Hehirs is a family-run artisan bakery offering a click-and-collect e-commerce platform across 18 cafe locations in Ireland. The product portfolio centres on freshly baked celebration cakes including customisable Birthday Cakes, Occasion Cakes, Character Cakes, Number Cakes, and Dripcakes. Customers can use the Build Your Own Cake tool to design custom cakes or order Custom Cakes with submitted images. The offering extends to Cupcakes, Donuts (with donut wall hire for events up to 400 units), Treats and Pastries including Fresh Cream Pastries. Catering services include Sandwich Platters, Hot Meals, and Corporate Catering with office donut drops and branded cupcakes. The business operates on a collection-only model with no delivery service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Donut wall service can cater for up to 400 donuts at a time for corporate events and weddings

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bread 41: Dublin-based artisan bakery and cafe known for sourdough breads, pastries, viennoiserie and celebration cakes with strong click & collect and wholesale supply. Comparable on artisan craft positioning, sourdough range, and direct-to-consumer cafe model.
• Gail's Bakery: UK artisan bakery-cafe chain with 100+ locations focused on handmade breads, pastries, cakes and savouries, plus online ordering. Closest UK analogue to O'Hehirs in terms of multi-location cafe-bakery format and celebration cake emphasis.
• Bretzel Bakery: Irish artisan bakery chain with multiple cafe-bakery locations across Dublin, offering breads, pastries, sandwiches and celebration cakes via in-store and online ordering. Closest like-for-like Irish peer given shared cafe-bakery format and D2C/click-collect orientation.
• The Cake Cafe: Dublin-based bakery-cafe specializing in celebration cakes, cupcakes, breads and casual daytime dining. Comparable to O'Hehirs on the celebration cake and cafe-bakery combination, though at smaller single-outlet scale.

Broad incumbents

• Costa Coffee: Large UK/Ireland coffee-led cafe chain with broad bakery and savoury menu, dine-in, takeaway and corporate services. Comparable on multi-site cafe format and corporate catering in Ireland/UK, though far broader food and beverage offering than O'Hehirs' celebration-cake focus.
• Paul Bakery: Established French-founded bakery-cafe chain operating internationally with a broader savoury and patisserie menu, dine-in cafe service and corporate catering. Comparable on cafe-bakery model and B2B catering, though at larger scale and broader assortment.
• Le Pain Quotidien: International bakery-cafe chain specializing in organic breads, pastries and communal table dining. Overlaps with O'Hehirs on artisan breads, pastries and cafe seating, though with a broader 'healthy organic' positioning and global footprint.

Regional players

• BB's Coffee & Muffins: Irish-owned coffee and baked-goods cafe chain with sit-in and takeaway service across multiple Irish locations. Adjacent cafe-bakery model with similar Irish footprint, though muffin-led rather than celebration-cake-led assortment.
• Butlers Chocolate Cafés: Irish-founded chocolate-themed cafe chain operating across Ireland and internationally with hot chocolate, pastries and gift lines. Adjacent cafe-bakery footprint in Ireland with comparable occasion/gifting positioning, though chocolate-led rather than bakery-led.

Emerging players

• Lolly and Cooks: UK-based artisan bake-at-home and retail bakery brand with strong celebration cake and tray-bake range sold via own website and select stockists. Comparable on custom celebration cake focus and digital ordering, though smaller and primarily online-led.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/OHehirsBakery
• Instagraminstagram.com/ohehirsbakery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about O’Hehirs