If you are a long-time reader of our blog then you may have seen back in December that we spoke to Ed Whitby, Operations Manager at Whitby Morrison, about all things ice cream vans. Well, we caught up with Ed again and he gave us a tour around their Crewe-based factory. 

Built in Crewe, bespoke to each customer and quintessentially British. We’re talking about ice cream van giants Whitby Morrison. Summer is fast approaching and ice cream vans are ever prominent on streets, beaches, festivals and events with their signature chimes.

Whitby Morrison really became a player in the ice cream van industry in 1983 when a competitor went bust. However, it all began in 1962 when Bryan Whitby set up his own business producing custom-made vehicles including ice cream vans and other delivery vehicles. The very first Whitby ice cream van arrived in the UK and saw its road debut.

Moving on several years to 1989, Whitby held most Northern ice cream vans and eventually took over another key player in the industry, southern-based Morrison Industries. The company then became Whitby Morrison and eventually moved to its current base in Crewe.

Flash forward to last week, when we drove one mile down the road to visit Whitby Morrison’s own, Ed Whitby, for a chat about all things ice cream vans. Walking into Whitby Morrison we were greeted by a timeline of some of their most popular vans and then swiftly taken through the factory floor and into a quieter meeting room space.

It was instantly clear that Ed takes pride in talking about the Whitby family business and what they have achieved over the years. Producing around 100 vans per year by a team of 45 highly skill individuals, Whitby Morrison is by far the leader in the ice cream van world. Ed goes on to explain that the business really is made by its employees, with that being one of the main reasons why the products and outcomes are improving every single day.

“There’s a value in Britishness”, Ed says, and this message really does ring true for Whitby, placing their stamp on vans all over the world in around 60 different countries. There is literally a van in every time zone.

On walking round the factory, the sheer extent of what they do at Whitby Morrison became very clear. Spanning over two buildings and a forecourt, we began in the initial prep stage where the fiberglass shells are molded and finished. We then moved through to the dismantle stage where the Sprinter chassis’ are prepared and the fiberglass structures lifted on.

All fridges, machines and interior shelving and units are then placed and secured into the vans by the Coachbuilding team, as well as electrics and all hidden elements to follow. Moving through, the vans are prepped and move on to paint where they are sprayed in an isolated booth, before moving on to any exterior hand paint work or vinyl that may be needed.

Once painted, lights and windows are finally applied before going through a thorough snag check, as well as a safety and road test to ensure that the customer receives a fully functioning, road-worthy van that will last them years to come. This was the process that the current fleet of brand-new Haven vans were going through, before hitting the road off to their permanent homes in 10 different locations around the UK.

Aside from building ice cream vans, Whitby Morrison are very involved in the local area and bringing together people from the industry. That’s why in October last year, Ed decided it was time for an ice cream van world record to be created and broken. The Guinness World Record attempt saw the largest ice cream van convoy ever, with 85 vans in attendance all set to travel around Crewe-based Wychwood Park, in convoy, under the harsh scrutiny of the Guinness adjudicators.

“It was one of the hardest things we’ve ever done.” Ed explains. With weeks, or even months, or planning to pull it all together, Ed and the whole team worked hard to bring the attempt together, in line with their annual event held in Nantwich. The attempt was a success (the second time around!) and finished with a total of 84 vans in convoy, which was a sight that had to be seen to be believed.

Visiting Whitby Morrison was certainly a unique morning and gave a real insight into how the company operates and what goes into making an ice cream van. Ed gave a real sense of how much of as family business it really is and how much work goes into ensuring that each ice cream van that leaves Whitby is to the highest quality.