A Gwynedd ice cream and pizzeria business has won the Upskilling Business of the Year award at the Wales Food and Drink Awards.

Glaslyn, Beddgelert, was recognised at the awards ceremony at Brangwyn Hall, Swansea.

Glaslyn started life as a gift shop and café by Joan and Bert Rowley in 1970, and was later converted to an ice cream parlour and pizzeria by their son Derek and his wife Elaine.

Glaslyn had to demonstrate its commitment towards creating a culture that valued training and improving skills, increased productivity and efficiency, and fostering innovation and sustainable growth.

The business, currently run by Bonnie Rowley, daughter of previous owners Derek and Elaine, employs a permanent team of eight and 28 casual workers.

Under her guidance, managers and department heads have completed Level 3 and Level 5 Institute of Leadership Management (ILM) courses.

She has also participated in a Help to Grow management course.

Food handlers at Glaslyn undergo accredited food safety training, with others completing a Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification.

Ms Rowley, managing director of Glaslyn said: "As a small business, it’s great to be recognised through an award like this.

"We can’t quite believe it because none of us expected it.

"Since I took the business over from my parents five years ago, we’ve been continuously investing in skills for our staff, as we see this as a key to help with growth.

"Although it’s required a culture change, it has been very rewarding for the business.

"By helping staff with new skills, such as personal development and skills-based training, it has empowered them to take on more tasks, roles and responsibilities."

Glaslyn’s commitment to sustainability did not go unnoticed.

The business was shortlisted for the Sustainable Business of the Year award and has been carbon negative for two years after working with Greener Edge.

Ms Rowley said: “We were also shortlisted for the sustainability award, which means a lot to us.

"We’re planning to improve our premises by updating our windows and doors and installing solar panels to generate our own electricity.

“We offset 120 per cent of our 2022 carbon emissions with two projects.

"We discovered The ACES Vanga Blue Forest Project through Bangor University that protects mangroves and communities on the Kenyan-Tanzanian border.

"We offset a further 216 tonnes of CO2 Emissions with the Gold Standard Cleaner, Safer Water project in Cambodia.

"On a more local level, we are working with Eryri National Park with its Plastic Free Yr Wyddfa Di-Blastig project, to help reduce our waste and remove single use plastics.

"We now also work with a local supplier, Llaethdy Plas Isa Dairy, who supplies our milk in reuseable buckets."

Sponsoring this year’s Upskilling Business of the Year category was Food & Drink Skills Wales/Sgiliau Bwyd a Diod Cymru.

Nerys Davies, Project Manager of Food & Drink Skills Wales/Sgiliau Bwyd a Diod Cymru, said: “They (Glaslyn) are a great example of the value of food and drink business investing in their people through training and adopting sustainable practices."