Dilly Dillys - International Women's Day

As we celebrate International Women’s Day we thought we would profile some of our great business women.

We spoke to Julie Logan, the owner of the ice cream parlour Dilly Dillys in the village of Rowlands Gill in the North East of England.

Julie said; “My background is in teaching and my speciality was outdoor education in the primary years sector.

“I spent three years as a Head teacher and my husband Peter was a skilled kitchen designer and fitter, life was good

“However my dear husband was handed a diagnosis which was about to change our lives and this included making a decision to work for ourselves and to work from our home.

Mud Kitchen

The couple combined thier skills set and designed one of the very first commercial mud kitchen.

Julie added; ‘They sold like hot cakes, and we couldn’t build them quick enough.

“Many jumped on board so we diversified and created a new range of unique products including: water walls, science labs, mechanics boards, giant scales, music walls and book hives.

“As time went by my husbands health steadily declined and we knew it was time to hand over full responsibility of Evergreen Outdoor Education to our very capable son Joe, who is ticking along nicely with it.

New Career

After leaving her career to spend more time with her husband she made the decision to look at a new career.

“We made the decision to draw heavily on my catering skills and bought me the little cafe in our village.

“Being part of the community where I live is important to me. The intention was that Peter would help support in whatever capacity he was able and I would employ someone to help full time.

The cafe was really successful and then Covid-19 hit so Julie had to look at other ways to support her family.

“I spent a lot of time making and taking free soups and low cost home cooked food to the vulnerable in the community but this was not sustainable longterm and I knew I had a big decision to make.

“I could walk away from business and cut my losses, I could convert to a hot food take away but there is one already in the village or I could dig deeper and get my creative head on.

Dilly Dilly’s Parlour

Julie put a call out on social media asking the people in the village what they would like to see if not a cafe. The overwhelming result was a deli or an ice cream shop.

“Taking what I had invested both in the building and the community I determined in my heart I could adapt both to bring about something that would bring hope, joy a little fun and a lot of colour.

“I taught myself very quickly how to make excellent ice cream and the results are beautiful.”

Dilly Dilly’s was born.

Community Appeal

The response has been overwhelming and I think the village love having something so unique and refreshing on their main street.

So what does the future hold for Julie and Dilly Dilly’s?

Julie says; “I want to continue designing and creating amazing ice cream which minimise artificial content, reaches all dietary requirements and brings a smile to every person who walks in Dilly Dilly’s doors.

Julie loves running her own business and adds; “The best things about running my own business include adapting to the ever changing landscape without too much responsibility towards others.

“Running my own business means there is no limit to my creativity and ambition, I can go as far as I am able within the parameters of energy, finance and currently public health.

“I get to follow my dreams and create new ones. I get to embrace my passion and live it. The flexibility aspect is incredible especially being able to work around my family commitments.

“My budget is my own responsibility and the targets I set are realistic for me and if they fail the only person they hurt financially is myself.

“The process of getting it wrong means I get smarter at calculating risk.”