Did you know...

• St Andrews Business Club was founded in 1950 with the help of members of the Dundee Business Club. The St Andrews Business Club has outlived its parent Club, which ceased to meet around 20 years ago.

• From around the 1960s the Club met at McArthur’s Café in South Street, until it closed. The Club currently holds most of its breakfasts in The Scores Hotel.

• The Club had strong ties with The Byre Theatre and held an annual black tie dinner in February. The price of a ticket in 1964 was £1 two shillings and sixpence.

• Reading through the Club archive, the issues, type of speaker and outside visit in the 1950s have a striking resemblance to the present day. A list of speakers from the early ‘50s can be found here..

• Common issues arising then and now include housing the university, tourism, traffic and parking and possible mergers with The Merchants Association of St Andrews.

• Outside visits in the 1950s and ‘60s were to the likes of Guardbridge Paper Mill, D.C. Thomson, The Byre Theatre, The University, Timex and RAF Leuchars.

• The Club was addressed by the Principal of the University in 1963. He stated that the University’s annual salary bill was £400,000 and that the bill would increase within three years to £600,000.

• The President’s Chain of Office was purchased in 1967 for £39.