Our Story

 

From a £15 Ice Cream Van to a Lifetime in Events

 

The Ferrante story began with very little except ambition.

 

Having arrived in London from a small town in Sicily, Giuseppe Ferrante set about building a life for himself and his wife Linda. In 1978, with the help of his friend Salvatore Diliberto, who trusted him with the stock he needed to get started, Giuseppe purchased his first ice cream van for the princely sum of £15.

 

At the time, Giuseppe and his wife Linda had two young children. What began with long days serving ice cream on the streets and in local parks would become a family business spanning generations and some of the most celebrated events and venues in Britain.

 

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Giuseppe was making his mark on the events industry. Ice cream was only the beginning. He progressed into managing catering concessions, developing a trusted network of independent traders and suppliers who worked alongside him at major events throughout the country.

 

One of the family’s earliest landmark contracts was Wembley Stadium, a relationship that would last an extraordinary 27 years.

 

And Wembley became part of my childhood.

 

I began working alongside my father at just five years old. I was too small to reach the ice cream machine, so I took a trolley around the stadium queues selling ice lollies. By seven, standing on a case of Panda Pop, I could finally reach the machine.

 

It was an unconventional childhood, but an extraordinary one.

 

I grew up inside the old Wembley Stadium, experiencing some of the greatest events of a generation, from Live Aid and Michael Jackson to Madonna and Bruce Springsteen. In those days, Wembley was a very different place. Crowds would begin gathering long before the gates opened, and our position on the pitch and all around the concourse put us right at the heart of it all.

 

Those experiences didn’t simply introduce me to events. They became part of who I am.

 

As I grew older, I shadowed my father and learned every aspect of the business: concessions, positioning, logistics, traders, customer flow, service and, crucially, understanding the commercial potential of an event.

 

The Ferrante operation expanded across the country, working at venues and events including Silverstone, Donington Park, Royal Ascot, the Chelsea Flower Show, Brands Hatch, Biggin Hill and many more. Giuseppe became a familiar and respected figure within the showmen and events community, appearing in the Showmen’s Directory for more than 30 years and working alongside some of the biggest names in the catering and ice cream industry.

 

Yet however successful he became, Giuseppe never forgot Sicily. It remained home in his heart, and our family continued to spend our winters there. I eventually completed my education in Sicily before returning to Britain for higher education.

 

But events had already got under my skin.

 

In 2009, I purchased my own ice cream van and returned to the industry that had shaped my childhood. I brought with me not simply years of experience, but the knowledge and instincts my father had passed down to me from the moment I was old enough to stand on that Panda Pop case.

 

Today, that experience has developed into something much bigger.

 

I believe event catering can and should be better. Event organisers deserve greater transparency, stronger commercial returns and a catering operation designed around their venue and their audience rather than a one-size-fits-all concession model.

 

My approach is built on partnership rather than layers of unnecessary middlemen.

 

We create bespoke catering concessions, bringing together exceptional independent traders, chefs, bars and specialist providers according to the individual requirements of each event. From infrastructure and trader selection to pricing, positioning, presentation and service standards, every element is considered.

 

After a lifetime spent on event sites, I understand that where a unit is positioned, what it sells, how quickly it serves and how it complements the wider event can make an enormous difference—not only to the customer experience, but to revenue.

 

That understanding comes from years of family experience and a network built over generations.

 

Sadly, Giuseppe passed away in 2018, and we lost Linda in 2026. Their influence, however, remains at the centre of everything I do.

 

My father gave me the guts and the wit. My mother gave me the kindness and the strength.

 

Together, they gave me the foundations on which I have built my life.

 

Today I am proud to continue the Ferrante legacy while taking it in a new direction—working with outstanding catering and bar partners, developing my own concessions and helping venues and event organisers realise the true potential of their catering operation.

 

For me, events have never simply been a business.

 

I grew up in them. I have spent my life learning them. I eat, breathe and sleep them.

 

And after more than half a century of Ferrante family history in this industry, the ambition remains remarkably similar to the one Giuseppe had when he bought that £15 ice cream van:

 

work hard, treat people properly, never compromise on service—and always look for a better way of doing things.