Ice cream firm is whipping up frenzy
An ice cream company which was severely damaged in one of the largest fires Stafford has ever seen has managed to rebuild and is now up for an award.
Tony's Ices, based in Astonfields Industrial Estate, has been nominated for Ice Cream of the Year 2018 by the Ice Cream Alliance, the UK's only governing body for ice cream, once again after finishing runner-up in the national contest last year.
It comes as the firm celebrates its 25th anniversary.
To mark the occasion, owner Karl Simcock, 42, from Stafford, has raised £1,400 since the start of the year for the A Child of Mine charity in memory of his brother Tony Simcock who sadly passed away aged 11 in 1981 in a road traffic collision and who the business is named after.
The nomination also comes as a welcome boost for the company after it has battled back from suffering around £10,000 worth of damage in the blaze at neighbouring Global Hygiene in March last year.
He said: "The worst thing about it was we had the stock in on the Friday before so if it was a week earlier, it would have been minimal what we lost.
"We came second last year for the award and you don't realise how much you want something until you don't achieve it. This is a prestigious award, there is no financial gain. Being top three is a great achievement but everyone wants to say I was ice cream man of the year.
"Being an ice cream man is all I have ever wanted to do. I have had so much job satisfaction seeing smiles on children's faces and we do lots in the community.
"We chose the charity because going back 30 years there was no support for my parents or siblings. I was only eight-years-old when he died. He was run over by a drunk driver and it was very difficult for us as a family especially for my mum who was really bad through it. My parents split up and I lived with my mum so it broke my family in that respect."
The ice cream company raised the money for the child bereavement charity by designing 15 new seasonal ice creams and for each one sold for £1.30, 20p went to the charity.
Mr Simcock started up in 1992 by buying an old van for £1,000 which he fixed up.
Now he runs four vans that deliver ice cream to families across Stafford with his daughters Kayleigh Louise, 22, and Hannah Wetton, 25, along with his business partner Zara Taylor and two part-time employees.
He is one of three finalists and the winner will be decided on February 2018.