HELLO and welcome to the AM Business Briefing, a third-generation Scottish business that serves up sweet treats at iconic locations across Scotland has introduced three electric ice cream vans to its fleet.
Ashers Ice Cream, based in Stirling, sells a variety of ice creams, drinks and sweets at locations including both Edinburgh and Stirling Castle as well as outdoor events across Scotland.
The business was acquired by new owners three years ago who introduced a new sustainability-focused strategy. Striving for a net-zero future, the firm recently purchased three ice cream vans that when stationery, are zero-emissions.
The new vehicles use diesel Euro 6 engines, the most efficient of its kind, while the vans also benefit from solar energy power to charge when stationary. The business has also converted all packaging to 100% biodegradable or compostable options.
Ashers Ice Cream secured a six-figure funding package from Bank of Scotland to help purchase the new vehicles and convert two others.
The business now plans to invest more than £1.5 million over the next five years to renew the rest of its fleet and build a new zero-emissions ice cream factory and vehicle storage facility in Stirling. The new building will include ground-source and air-source heat pumps, solar panels, a 100% paperless office and energy-efficient lighting.
Gary Horne, owner of Ashers Ice Cream, said: “We’re hugely passionate about the environment and want to do all we can as a business to make sure we’re running on the lowest emissions possible.
“When we came across this new electric ice cream van, we knew it was best option for our long-term goal of becoming 100% carbon neutral. Thanks to the support from Bank of Scotland, we’ve been able to secure the funding that allowed us to buy our first, of what we hope will be many, of these vans.
“It’s also a great talking point with our customers as you’d never expect an ice cream van to run off electricity let alone solar power, especially with the weather here in Scotland. We can’t wait to see what the next couple of years bring as we introduce even more green ways of working as we continue to serve up our ice cream across the country.”
Brian Kerr, relationship manager at Bank of Scotland, said: “Ashers Ice Cream has been operating since the 1930s, so seeing the strategy evolve over the years to align with environmental changes is just brilliant.
“We’re proud to support businesses like this to meet their green ambitions as we all work towards a more sustainable future. As we head towards Scotland’s net zero goals, we’ll continue helping firms access the support they need to lower their emissions and ultimately, protect our planet.”
Stuart Patrick: Scottish business has lost a true giant with Vic Emery’s passing
Losing Vic Emery OBE to a car accident on Saturday has been a shock to the business community in Glasgow.
His contribution to Glasgow and to Scotland stands as a powerful demonstration of the force for good that business leadership can be. Born and brought up in Portsmouth, Vic took Glasgow to his heart and he served this city for more than 25 years.
Windfarm jobs boost for Caithness area in prospect
Investors behind plans to develop a giant floating wind farm off Caithness have highlighted the benefits it is expected to generate for the local economy.
The partners in the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm Project have noted the potential for Scrabster Harbour in Thurso to play an important supporting role in the development and operation of the facility.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here