A young Whitfield lad’s chance summer job at a much-loved Dundee fish shop has ended up with his name above the door more than three decades later.
Michael Gazeley is now the proud owner of the former McLeish Brothers and G&A Spink store on Castle Street, as well as its sister shop in Broughty Ferry.
Michael, 53, had just left Stobswell Secondary School in the summer of 1976 and was considering a career in catering when he was asked to fill in at the shop, then owned by Stewart and Sandy McLeish.
He said: “My mother used to work in the arcade in Castle Street and then she worked for Stewart McLeish in their shop there.
“Somebody had cut their finger and I was asked to come in for two weeks. I was there for about a month and then I was invited back and that’s been me ever since.”
Michael filleted fish at the company’s King Street and Trades Lane premises, starting every day at 6am.
He said: “After two days you never smell a thing. Everybody smells you, but you don’t smell a thing.
“The best teacher anyone could ever have was Stewart McLeish. He taught me everything I know. I got a grounding in every aspect of the business.
“Eventually, I was asked to run the Broughty Ferry fish shop in Brook Street, which I did for 10 years.”
The shops changed from McLeish Brothers to McLeish, which folded in 2009, before being resurrected as G&A Spink.
Earlier this year, Michael, who was the Castle Street shop manager, was offered the option of taking over the business and decided to go for it, renaming the shops Gazeley’s Delicatessen Ltd last month.
His daughter Lori, 21, also works for the family firm.
He said: “I’ve always treated the business as if it was my own. I’ve always given 110%, that’s just who I am. It’s the way I was brought up.
“The customers have been very supportive and I have known so many of them for so many years. They really have been fantastic about it and really pleased for me.”