Jonathan Fell 'Businessman of the Year'

The Ice Cream Farm Entrepreneur, Jonathan Fell, Director of The Ice Cream Farm, was recognised as 'Businessman of the Year' at the Cheshire Business Awards held at Chester Cathedral on Friday 12 October.

The prestigious 'Business Person of the Year' award recognises an individual who stands out from the crowd, has an entrepreneurial spirit, demonstrates outstanding achievement and inspires others around them.

Over the past 32 years, The Ice Cream Farm has developed into one of the top 20 most visited 'free to enter' attractions in the whole of the UK and the most visited 'free to enter' attraction in the North West. The farm has around 800,000 visitors a year and holds the much-coveted title of the Guinness World Records 'World's Largest Ice Cream Shop' thanks to Jonathan's vision and ongoing investment.

Chair of the judging panel, Alistair Houghton comments: "Attracting footfall from all over the world, Jonathan's belief in the possibilities of this exciting family business have seen incredible results, not just for The Ice Cream Farm, but for the region as a whole. We were delighted to award Jonathan this award as the results speak for themselves and we are certain he has many more exciting projects up his sleeve."

The business had humble beginnings when Jonathan's forward-thinking dairy farmer parents saw diversification opportunities for their dairy farm in the 1980's and opened a small retail outlet for ice cream and a viewing gallery where visitors could see cows being milked. Jonathan began working for the business when he was just 16 and transformed The Ice Cream Farm into the multi-million-pound tourist attraction that it is today.

The Ice Cream Farm now employs over 300 members of staff and Jonathan makes every effort to employ individuals from the rural community, which leads to a big input into the local economy in wages.

Jonathan has also overseen the development of The Cheshire Farm Ice Cream wholesale brand, including the Mini Ice Cream Farm 'pop-up' stores, selling select flavours of ice cream alongside a variety of children's activities under 'The Ice Cream Farm' brand. Currently found throughout the North of England, there are plans to roll out the concept nationwide by 2020.