Alcohol was his downfall. Beer. Gin. Half a bottle of vodka just to get out of bed. He was what he called a stand-up drunk. Still able to function like nothing was wrong.

''We're always topped up. You don't see us falling down,'' he said.

Being read his last rites during liver failure gave him reason enough to seek help to end his addiction. He edged back to life after a six-week stint in hospital.

With the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, he hasn't had a drink since September 14, 1996.

While his family has a history of alcoholism, he said being a chef didn't help.

''In hospitality, it's a work hard-play hard culture. We tend to work long hours, we tend to party together afterwards. I crossed the line a long time before I knew it,'' he said.

Mr Quinn, who has been in Canberra this week speaking to Canberra Institute of Technology hospitality students, has used his experience to set up the Ark Foundation in Britain to help his industry cope with the lure of drugs and alcohol.

He started giving seminars at British hospitality colleges to advise young people entering the industry on how to recognise the symptoms of excess and how to get help.

''The only thing I feel we can do is educate people,'' he said.

Now he thinks his work should be extended across all professions and industries, such is the damage being done by alcohol. He will return to Australia in August to give more seminars.

''When I went to my first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, the guy there, he was 25 years sober, said, 'You don't realise how ill you are. You carry on drinking; you'll lose your house, you'll lose your wife, you'll lose your kids.'

''And I thought this guy was nuts. 'Who is that clown talking to?'

''And what he told me, it nearly all came true. But I wouldn't listen because of my pride, my denial,'' he said.