Breaking The Ice For Six Generations

Founded in 1860, The Ice Co is Europe’s leading ice manufacturer and the UK’s number 1 ice brand, with bestselling products such as Super Cubes, Polar Cube and Party Ice.

Almost 160 years later, The Ice Co still operates with the same entrepreneurial spirit and passion for ice that the business was founded upon. Now led by the sixth generation of the Marr family, keeping their customers cool is still at the forefront of everything they do, which is celebrated in the range of ice products they offer.

Paul Andrews spoke to Managing Directors Philip Marr and Polly Metcalfe to find out more.

As Philip explains, “It all started six generations ago with Joseph Marr, an entrepreneurial young fish and ice merchant in Hull."

"Fishing fleets needed to keep their catch cold, however ice wasn’t so readily available in those days so he imported glacial ice from Norway."

"He bought his first fishing vessel in 1870 and expanded his fleet over the following fifteen years before moving to Fleetwood in 1896.”

“In 1908, spotting an opportunity in the market, son of Joseph Marr – James, founded The Fylde Ice Company and the first ice factory was built to produce crushed ice for fishermen and trawlers.”

“The business continued to grow and the demand for cold storage was so high that Fylde Ice built its first cold store in 1927 to offer cold storage services to fish merchants. Over the following years, demand for ice continued but more so now for its use in the home. Following a trip to America (where ice was already developing rapidly in the retail market) and with an entrepreneurial spirit, an ice machine was bought to enable production of ice for wholesale and the food service market,” continues Philip.

“In 1987, ice demand was so much so that Fylde Ice invested in their ice manufacturing and Party Ice, our best selling product today, was sold for the first time!  In the same year, the family business continued to grow resulting in an ice factory being bought in Newark (Polarcube) to allow the business to grow and develop further into retail.”

“And it was in 1997 that we purchased our spring water site in East Yorkshire was to fulfil a demand for spring water ice cubes.  Continued growth and investment led to the purchase of a 37,000 pallet cold storage site in West Yorkshire in 2007, home to our head office. A new state of the art ice factory was built feeding directly into the cold store and cold storage services were expanded to third party customers,” he continues.

“In 2010, now led by Generation Six of the Marr family, with the continued entrepreneurial spirit and passion as Joseph Marr and successive generations, we undertook a company rebrand and streamline"

This resulted in the split of ice manufacturing and cold storage services into 2 separate entities, aptly named – The Ice Co (that’s us!) and Ice Co Storelogs (our sister company), which forms the basis of the business that we are today,” adds Philip.

Philip and Polly represent the sixth generation of their family to be involved in running the business and had very different journeys to get to where they are today, similar to the next generation and their career paths into family firms the world over.

Philip has now been involved with the business for over 20 years, and has fond memories of how it all began.  “By the age of 18 I was spending time out at sea on the trawlers, something that I really loved.  Education was not really for me and after completing my A levels, it was agreed that I should get a job and that was how it all started.  I liked being on the sea, learnt all aspects of the business from the ground up that included factory work, packing ice, working in the cold stores, stacking pallets and over time my roles and knowledge grew.  I learnt about engineering, the needs of the business for growth and expansion and got involved in the design and build of the factory in Driffield,” he explains.

As a next generation team, Phil and Polly have a fantastic relationship and work really well together, their skills complimentary and their vision aligned. 

Polly took a different route into the family business and has now been involved with the business for over 17 years.  “I wanted to be an actress and went to drama school, moving to London to pursue my dreams and whilst in London worked for The Ice Co seeking to promote the Yorkshire brand to the London pubs and clubs market.  I learnt a lot about the sector and the competitive nature of the business and secured the contract for the London 2012 Olympics supplying 70 venues across the capital with our ice for the athletes and the hospitality venues, it was a great role for me and an even better learning experience,” continues Polly.

“I made the decision to move back to Yorkshire and became a Director of The Ice Co, with a sales and marketing focus,” she adds.

Both of them have fond memories of the business as they grew up. 

“We used to come into the office with Dad on a Saturday morning because he wanted to check the telex/fax machine which was the only way to communicate with the trawlers, so we spent plenty of time at Hull Docks so that he could check what was going on and to see how the boats were doing."

"These were the days before emails so things were run very differently and I remember we used to play on the swivel chairs, race up and down the corridors, play hide and seek and hunt for KitKats which were purposefully left hidden for our entertainment in cabinets and desk drawers.” explains Polly.

The entrepreneurship and passion to drive the business further was evident as they grew up, something that drives them both today.

Phil and Polly have a real sense of energy and purpose about their roles, and taking on the next stage of the family business together certainly does not phase them.  They have the entrepreneurial spirit of the generations that have gone before and clearly want to take the baton and build on the business that they have taken on. 

“We do get on really well,” continues Polly.  “We are who we are and have our own way of doing things but have created a culture and a team environment where the team know us and ‘get us’ and we are really proud of the team that we have recruited.”

Like many next generation family members stepping into the leadership roles, there is a transitionary period from the old guard to the new, something that Phil and Polly were very aware of.  “There were some great people working in the business who were Dad’s team and had supported him and the business for many years, but they were not right for us and over time we have recruited people to fit our culture and align with where we are now taking the business,” explains Philip.  “The culture of the business is really important to us and the way that we want to do business, and we needed to add our stamp to the business by creating the feel within the team that was right too,” he continues.  “Polly and I are very creative individuals and although Dad has stepped back and allowed us to take the lead, he is still involved at a non-exec board director level, which is great, and our team embrace the vision we have for the business and where we want it to go too,” he adds.

“As the sixth generation, we appreciate the importance of getting things done,” continues Polly, “so we understand the need for open and honest conversations about the things that matter and we believe in saying it how it is and then chatting it out which avoids any cause for concern and it also helps us all appreciate each other and any differences that there may be in viewpoints.”

“Family is the most important part and we respect boundaries and relationships but are prepared to have difficult conversations when we have to, being as close knit as we are, it has become easier over the years,” continues Polly.

The Ice Co has a strong set of values that have been carefully considered by Phil, Polly and the team which are deeply embedded within the business, something that they are both incredibly proud of.  “Our vision and values shape who we are, guide what we do and how we do it and are the very essence of who we are as a family business,” adds Polly, “and these values have helped us build and shape our reputation over the years.”

As Phil continues, “We have a set of values that really do mean everything to us.  They are what we are all about, the way we do things around here and essentially reflect that we inspire through knowledge, we rise to a challenge, we continue to evolve, we are dependable and we are extremely proud of our company and our people.  In essence it all boils down to us being cool, respected and dedicated to being the best ice company in the world.”

This summer The Ice Co have updated their company video, which captures these values perfectly, a tongue in cheek mockumentary in the style of Ricky Gervais’ The Office. Starring Polly with an entertaining cameo from Phil “really not my thing!” he confirms, however it is definitely worth a watch.

As a business, the scale of what they do is incredible.  Continuing investment in plant and machinery, innovation and focus on sustainable business practices and efficiencies sees them continue to evolve.  In terms of numbers, they produce over 6 billion ice cubes a year which is enough to go around the world 5 times!

This is a business focused on the future and there are 6 family members in the next generation, ranging in age from 5 to 15, all of whom are aware of the business and the story behind it. Phil and Polly are well aware of their roles which they see as stewards for the next generation and so are doing all they can to educate and inform them as a collective group going forward.  “It is important for them to understand the journey and the history behind who we are and what we do and to form their own opinions as to what they want to do going forward, “ adds Phil, “and there will be no pressure on them to join the business but we do want them to appreciate what it is that the family have created over the generations too.”

As a business looking to continue to grow there are obviously challenges that have to be addressed.  “Some of our biggest challenges are around energy costs and people, the latter because there are some very large employers locally who we have to compete against,” continues Philip.  “Our culture helps in recruitment and can be a real differentiator as we look after our people, provide lots of nice touches such as monthly free lunches for all and free ice, and have created a great environment and a culture for everyone at work.  Word of mouth gets around in terms of being a good employer and our values certainly help when we are looking to employ people too,” adds Polly.

With a good team in place there is plenty of time for them to look to the future and focus on the strategic development plans they have.  Investment and innovation continue with a wind turbine generating power, solar panels, robotic wrapping machines and even their own train on site, all driven by their desire for efficiency in production and further growth going forward.

Every family business needs good leadership and a vision for where they want to go and the chemistry between Philip and Polly is palpable.  There is a real energy about who they are, what they do and how they empower people to deliver.  They have made their mark and created a culture for people to get things done.

As Phil concludes, “We are in it for the long run and we are all responsible for each other, the company and the environment.  We make decisions for the long term and we are proud of the business we are today, and excited about what the future holds too.   It is incredible that the business that began in 1860 founded by Joseph Marr has become the business that we are today.   Polly and I are incredibly proud to be running a business that is steeped in history whilst at the same time building for the future too.”

They have come a long way from being experts in the fishing industry where, 160 years later, they have a vision to become the best ice company in the world.

Find out more by visiting their website here www.theiceco.co.uk