Breakfast business expands on the Wharf

But with his product now served in train stations across London as well as sold in Waitrose and Selfridges and even on Virgin Atlantic flights, it seems that hard work is paying off.

Speaking at the launch of his breakfast product hitting the shelves in Canary Wharf's Waitrose, Tom said: "We began on February 24, 2006.

"The day before I was fixing a van in Deptford and someone stole my laptop out of the seat. It wasn't the best of starts. I had to chase them and thankfully I did get it back.

"The next day we were at Waterloo East on the stall and I remember we sold about £50-worth of products."

The first day of taking money came five months after Tom left a lucrative job as a management consultant in the City.

Although he said he enjoyed the job, he wanted to do something on his own and "get his hands dirty" and, along with another management consultant Amy Farren, put about £10,000 of savings into the venture.

His idea was to exploit a gap in the market in the form of a nutritious breakfast bar that commuters could pick up on the way to work.

He had the product - but getting it on the streets proved tough.

He said: "I was putting proposals to London Underground and local councils, building management and train companies.

"I spent months biking around different locations and taking pictures, counting people with clickers to get footfall. And worked really hard to get the Waterloo East location before South East Trains gave us the go-ahead."

Like every start-up business the hard work began in those early days.

Tom, who lives in Waterloo, said: "It was all about getting up at 1.45am and starting work at 2.15am. I'd make products, deliver and sell them

"For three months I was working 16 to 18-hour days.

"My business partner at the time, Amy - who is still a director - was there to help out but it was me doing the night shifts. It's only in the last year I've been able to step back from the operations.

"Sometimes it's hard to see the wood for the trees but it's good to go through that. All start-up businesses have to go through it."

These days the business is improving rapidly.

It expanded with help from a £150,000 loan from HSBC - achieved through the government-backed small firms loan - and this year reported an annual turnover of £1.5million.

Based in Deptford it has a staff of around 20, including two chefs, two delivery drivers and 10 working on the stalls.

It still has eight stalls in London's stations but the plan now is to expand the wholesale business.

Tom said: "We had a stall at Canary Wharf DLR. We got into offices around here and no longer needed the stall.

"People were recommending us to their work catering managers, so now we have it in many canteens in the Wharf and actually have the product in over 100 offices in the country.

"We're also in talks with coffee shops and Eurostar. There's a huge market. I want to see it as first choice in the country for grab and go cereal."

Go to momafoods.co.uk.