Day in the Life of Ailish Durkin, from Kilkenny's Red Mills

Ailish Durkin is Head of Direct to Consumer - Pet & Lifestyle at Connolly's Red Mills, Ailish combines her passion for animals with over 20 years Marketing & Sales experience, to lead the Pet & Lifestyle teams at this Kilkenny family business who are becoming an international name for premium pet products.

I caught up with Ailish ahead of the hotly anticipated Connolly's Red Mills Race Day, which will be taking place at Gowran Race Park on Saturday, February 18 next. It also marks the first best dressed competition of the year at Gowran Park.

Here is a glimpse into Ailish’s pet and fashion world…

Red Mills Race Day 2020

Your role in Red Mills sounds like the best job, combining both animals and fashion. How has the role evolved since starting with the company six years ago?

When I started we had just opened the store at Cillin Hill, in a state of the art facility with of course TJ Reid Health & Fitness upstairs.

With the manufacturing side of the business, we had begun to expand our pet food business internationally, so it was a very exciting time to join.

Since then, the store has gone from strength to strength, growing both our in store offering and of course the development of our online channel which has just exploded in the past three years.

I am delighted to say that last year we launched our Go Native dog food in Korea, and just last week launched the same range in Hong Kong, both huge markets for pets where the response so far has been very enthusiastic.

Stylists Chris Kavanagh, Fiona Foley & Marietta Doran at Red Mills Race Day 2020

Red Mills Race Day is on February 18 next and it’s always a much-anticipated day out for the race goers and fashionistas, especially as it marks the first Best Dressed Ladies Day of the new year in Gowran Park. How hectic is it for the Red Mills team behind the scenes?

A huge amount of prep goes on for months in advance, and the day has evolved so much in recent years there’s a lot to do. We’ve really enjoyed developing new aspects to the day to keep everyone entertained.

There were record attendance numbers last year – and we’re expecting it to be even bigger again on the 18th.

Our equine team has a wonderful initiative running for the grooms who take such great care of the horses, and our store team is busy co-ordinating for our pop-up store, where we’ll have all our fashion favourites and some special offers on the day.

At the moment stylist Marietta Doran and I are busy prepping for our fashion shows and the super popular best dressed competition!

Who is this year’s Best Dressed judge?

The lovely Nathalie Lennon is this year’s guest judge – she is well known for her work as a radio presenter, nutritional coach, and content creator, and coming from a horseracing family she is very well placed to understand the balance of style and comfort that’s so important for national hunt race meetings.

As seen on Virgin Media, season trends from Red Mills Store

What is the latest trend for race day fashion that she will be on the lookout for?

We are definitely seeing a lot more colour at the racetrack – magenta is the pantone colour of the year, but we’re seeing lots of brights – oranges, royal blues, as well as more subtle tones such as plum and olive.

The trusty fedora has always been a firm favourite, but we’re seeing it even more now, both on and off the track. It’s such a lovely way to add a finishing touch to an outfit, and with our Irish weather being what it is, a very stylish way to keep hair dry!

We’ve a good selection of hats in store, and the majority are water repellent and come in a range of colours, styles and sizes.

I know you are a proud dog owner yourself and only give your pooch the best of Red Mills products. So how proud were you when Red Mills brand Go Native dog launched in South Korea recently? 

It’s a huge achievement for the whole team here at Red Mills, and it’s not just a team effort, but a community effort. We are intensely proud that our pet foods are made right here in Kilkenny, using ingredients which we source from local farmers and growers, and then make their way across the globe for dogs in Korea, Hong Kong, and even Chile to enjoy all of that Irish goodness.

Red Mills store and the Red Mills on-line are open six years now. How important has social media been in the development of this business?

Social media has certainly played a part and we are so lucky to have a really innovative and adventurous marketing team who are constantly checking in with the latest trends and algorithm updates, so that we can really make the most of any of the content that we produce.

You can now follow our store @redmillsstore  and our pet channel @redmillspet on facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and we recently partnered with local content agency BeeMedia for a series of Live Shopping Events in the run up to the Christmas ’22 period, so that customers both local and farther afield could enjoy virtual styling sessions and even a Dog Toy Show!

Connolly's Red Mills celebrates 115 years in business this year. What a milestone.

What a milestone and what a family. The Connolly’s have been an integral part of Kilkenny’s Agribusiness now for five generations, and each generation has carried on the commitments of quality and trust.

The quality of Red Mills products is second to none. Everything is made in house, nothing is outsourced and there is an on-site laboratory team who test everything from ingredients to finished product meticulously, so you can be sure that you’re feeding your horse, dog or cat only the best.

What are the plans for the business for 2023?

More travelling and more events! This year our Pet Trade team will be exhibiting in Florida, Italy, Vegas and Bangkok. We are also the headline sponsor for Pups in the Park, Ireland’s biggest dog festival taking place in Dublin and Cork in April.

After the Red Mills Day our store team will be ‘popping up’ at the Punchestown Festival and then the Dubin Horse Show at the end of the summer.

In store, we’ve expanded our food offering in the Café, and we have some really fun new fashion brands, catering for both ladies and gents, and of course dogs!

If you are not at the races or caring for dogs, what's downtime for Ailish?

I love my grub, and we are spoiled to have so many great restaurants right on our doorstep. For a treat I would have to say Campagne is a firm favourite, and I’ve recently discovered the food menu at Lenehans and would wholeheartedly recommend it.

I also love travel and like a lot of people was delighted to be able to get back on a flight once again last year and have packed in quite a few trips since. I particularly love short city breaks with pals, and for anyone thinking of similar, highly recommend Nice, Malaga City and of course Paris.

Recently I’ve taken up doing jigsaws(!) and genuinely find it a great way to unwind and give the brain a bit of alternative exercise.

This year, RED MILLS Day at Gowran Park Racecourse will be extra special as it marks the 115th anniversary of Connolly’s RED MILLS. As one of the most respected and well-known animal nutrition brands in the world it is fitting that this milestone will be celebrated at their local racecourse, where Joe Connolly has been Chairman for over 26 years.

Connolly’s RED MILLS is proud to announce that it will once again sponsor free admission for all racegoers at Gowran Park Racecourse on RED MILLS Day, Saturday February 18. Stay tuned to their social media for the extra round of complimentary tickets that will be released this week @redmillshorse & @gowranpark