WATCH: Gary earns his stripes as ice-cool business whips up a success story

Ice cream supremo Gary Williams – better known to generations of Shetlanders as Mr Stripey – is celebrating 25 years of selling whippys from his van.

Gary Williams, 70, of Sound, bought a second-hand van from Margate in Kent in 1998 and got a licence to trade.

He is now on his third van, which plays Nellie the Elephant to let customers know he is nearby.

In 2004 he made the investment that gave his business its current name.

He bought a Mr Stripey machine, which puts six different vertical flavoured stripes into an ice cream, from inventor Jon Hemmings at a trade exhibition in Blackpool.

He said the distinctive stripes continued to be a talking point.

The routes Gary and the van take have evolved over the years.

He initially travelled a lot further, regularly heading north as far as Mossbank via Weisdale and Brae and south to Sumburgh via Bigton and Quendale.

Now his regular routes are to Sandwick, Tingwall, Scalloway and Burra with an occasional trip to Whalsay.

This summer, customers found him most afternoons in South Lochside, for which he has secured planning permission.

And he returned to the annual summer shows as they made a welcome comeback.

Gary thanked his wife Olive for her unwavering support.

He thanked his customers for their loyalty and praised them for not letting the weather lessen their appetite for a whippy.

“People are more resilient here,” he said.

• Read more about Mr Stripey and other business-related stories in our Businss Quarter pages in today’s Shetland Times.