Birmingham restaurant Opus at Cornwall Street, which is celebrating its 10th birthday this year, has promoted its head chef, Ben Ternent, to executive chef.

Having run the kitchen operations of Opus at Cornwall Street for some time, and having added Cafe Opus and Bar Opus for the last six months, the 30-year-old’s new role will see him managing a team of 11 chefs and three kitchen porters across the three venues, as well as developing menus, buying fine British produce from the company’s range of local and sustainable suppliers, and continuing to cook with the celebrated kitchen team.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Ben studied at the Birmingham College of Food (now UCB) during which he did a placement year in Denver, Colorado, where he got his first taste of a la carte cooking. He then joined Opus as one of the original team shortly after its launch in 2005 as a commis chef, and has gained 10 years’ worth of experience working in almost every section of its kitchen, to become one of its youngest members of management.

During his time at the restaurant, Ben has achieved a number of prestigious awards including being crowned the British Culinary Federation’s Young Chef of the Year in 2006 and achieving his Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Award of Excellence in 2009.

Speaking of his appointment, Ben said: “It’s now my job to develop our ever-growing team and motivate them to keep pushing the quality of our dishes and menus forward. It goes to show that hard work pays off and it’s a privilege for me to  be working with such talent. I’m now looking forward to delivering our new summer menus and organising some trips out to our suppliers.”

Ann Tonks, managing director at Opus, said: “Ben is so young and passionate, and his new position truly recognises the work that he’s been doing for some time now. He has built strong relationships with his team and our suppliers and is much loved by Opus’ staff and customers . We can’t wait to see what he and his team will be cooking up for us in the future.”