Owen Hazel

Owen Hazel scoops freshly-made ice cream out of the traditional vertical drum for members of St Andrews Business Club to try. Pic: ASM Media & PR

Owen Hazel, Director of B Jannettas Gelateria  

It’s not often a business club talk can be described as tasty as well as terrific, but the latest one heard by St Andrews Business Club members at B Jannettas Gelateria on South Street was both!

The reason was the speaker, Owen Hazel, who with his wife Nicola has been running the business for the last 20 years. As well as explaining the history of the business — which was started in 1908 by Nicola’s great-grandfather, Bennett Jannetta, as a soda parlour and tobacconist — Owen demonstrated how they make top-quality traditional gelato using a recipe and vertical drum, before giving samples to his eager audience. Earlier they also sampled a fruit sorbet.

Owen went on to explain how the fourth generation running the family firm, which won two prestigious awards this year, plan to transform the South Street premises next year into a single open-space ‘gelatorium’, allowing customers to see their ice cream being made. Other plans for the future development of the brand were also outlined, before Owen answered questions.

Club President Kenneth Russell, gave a vote of thanks.

Ken Dalton

Ken Dalton, Chair of BID St Andrews, speaking to St Andrews Business Club, watched by (right) President, Ken Russell. Pic: ASM Media & PR.

Our guest speaker was Ken Dalton who spoke about St Andrews applying for Business Improvement Districts Scotland (BIDS) status.

Ken Dalton graduated in Environmental Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in 1970 and retired in 2011. Ken was Chief Executive of AECOM Europe a professional services consulting company with Architects/Engineers/ Transportation/Water and Environment designers.The business had 4,500 people in Europe with offices from Dublin to Moscow and was part of a Global company of 45,000 staff with HQ in Los Angeles.

Since retiring Ken is Chairman of Mardal the owners of the Adamson restaurant in town. He is also a non-executive of the Court of the University of St Andrews, Chair of BID St Andrews and Lord Dean of Guild of Edinburgh. Previous recent appointments include Master of the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, non-executive at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, and Renter Warden of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers in London.

Ken is married to Marge and they have two children Julie and Graham. His interests are music, theatre, art and bad golf.

Ken was accompanied by Viv Collie co-ordinator of the St Andrews BID project