Awards success for The Ice Cream Shop in West Kirby

The Ice Cream Shop in West Kirby has been honoured with Family Business of the Year and Newcomer (Family Business) at the Business Awards UK.

The shop has also been nominated for the Women's Business Awards.

The shop's owner John 'Kipper' Hughes told the Globe: "Winning the awards is absolutely amazing, we want to thank everyone who has supported our work since we opened, including the Globe. It means so much to us.

"We've been overwhelmed by how popular and love creating the interesting flavours for our customers."

He added: "West Kirby is going through a bit of a lull at the moment, there are quite a few empty shops in the town. 

"Hopefully, success stories like ours will bring more business to the town."

One of the creations on offer at The Ice Cream Shop (Image: Justin Hopper) The shop  on Grange Road invites customers to challenge John to make anything they wish — with some creations mouth-watering and others described as just 'plain crazy'.

John and wife Diane opened the quaint little shop in 2019 and have developed such a reputation that people travel from far and wide to enjoy their delights.

The shop has a revolving and ever-changing range of fascinating flavours of ice creams including dog ice cream, as well as almost 40 different types of bubble tea — something that John says has also been going down a storm.

But what makes him truly unique is that he actively encourages people to challenge him to make bespoke flavours.

One of the creations on offer at The Ice Cream Shop (Image: Justin Hopper) Some have been extremely popular, such as ice cream similar to Twister ice lollies and ice cream similar to Vimto, whereas some have been rather ‘interesting’ — such as bacon and maple syrup flavour for a local business.

If he makes a flavour a customer loves, they can buy tubs of it to take home.

For businesses, John can make them a bespoke flavour that they can re-brand — giving them something interesting to offer, rather than just standard ice cream for dessert.

John continued: "I originally opened as Artisan Gelato in 2019 and developed a fantastic reputation, but was forced to close in 2022 due to the council closing the pavement and ruining my trade for four months.

"Closing gave me the opportunity to get creative with flavours, so when I re-opened as The Ice Cream Shop in February 2023 I introduced all sort of interesting flavours."

John and wife Diane opened the quaint little shop in 2019 and has developed such a reputation that people travel from far and wide to enjoy their delights (Image: Justin Hopper) His business suffered badly when the council closed the pavement in 2022, with no compensation, and they then threatened to fine him for having his iconic 'Tracey The Cow' outside the shop. 

John said recently that people are loving The Ice Cream Shop 'as much now as ever'.

He spends hours exploring supermarket aisles and experimenting with weird and wonderful flavours — some recent ones such as The Pensby Pig, one similar to Terry’s Chocolate Orange and the one similar to Twister ice lollies have been flying out.

John summarised: "I’ve had some bad dealings to contend with but I’m more passionate and creative than ever. It’s so satisfying to see both kids and adults alike enjoying our creations — from custom ice creams made just for them to our huge range of refreshing bubble tea.”

One of the creations on offer at The Ice Cream Shop (Image: Justin Hopper) He continued: "Knowing that people love our creations and it makes them happy keeps us going no matter what the council or big companies throw at us.

"We’re a passionate local independent and we also do lots for the community such as sponsoring the local football team and giving ice cream to residential homes.

"We love being an integral part of the community.”