Ice-cream firm up for sale after family feud

An Italian ice-cream dynasty that has kept Scots in chocolate sundaes for 66 years sought to end an internal rift yesterday by announcing its emporia empire is up for sale.

Nardini's of Largs, patronised since 1935 by the Royal Family and holidaymakers alike, is to be sold after a feud which mixed knickerbocker glories with court battles and internecine strife.

At the heart of the dispute over the £3.5m company, based in the Ayrshire resort, are Peter Nardini, 66, still a director, and his brother, Aldo, 70, a former partner in the firm and father of the actress Daniela Nardini. Aldo, who won the right last year to use the Nardini name on ice-cream sold in his own rival chain of emporia. He was voted off the board of the family firm in 1999.

The business, comprising an art deco parlour in Largs, an ice-cream factory and four other cafés, underwent an efficiency drive in recent years. But the price has been the departure not only of Aldo but of three cousins who disagreed with the appointment of an outsider as chairman in 1997. Peter Nardini said this weekend: "It is sad in a way to see the family firm go up for sale. But if the company is to develop further, it is the right thing to do."