Nardini stars in real-life drama as ice cream wars return to Glasgow

For 70 years, the Nardini brothers have been the ice cream kings of Scotland. Now they have fallen out and a bitter legal battle is being waged for control of their £3.5m knickerbocker glory empire; at its centre is Daniela Nardini, better known as Anna, the feisty barrister from BBC2's This Life.

For 70 years, the Nardini brothers have been the ice cream kings of Scotland. Now they have fallen out and a bitter legal battle is being waged for control of their £3.5m knickerbocker glory empire; at its centre is Daniela Nardini, better known as Anna, the feisty barrister from BBC2's This Life.

The Nardini family made its money by selling ice cream cones on the seafront at Largs before hitting the big time in Glasgow city. Their story - poor immigrant family made good before being destroyed by sibling rivalry - would make a drama to rival This Life.

The star of a Nardini soap opera would have to be Daniela, daughter of Aldo. She now combines acting with a place on the board of a company set up by her father last summer, after he was thrown out of the family firm.

Daniela was by Aldo's side at Glasgow Sheriff Court in September. Together they won the right to use the name Nardini on the ice cream sold in their shop in that city, Il Caffe Casa.

But lawyers acting for Pete Nardini and the original company he controls have now confirmed they intend to challenge that ruling in the Court of Sessions early next year, and apply for a gagging order that would apply across Scotland.

A spokesman for P Nardini and Sons said: "We are confident that the courts will agree with the people of Scotland that there is only one Nardini's ice cream - and we make it."

Aldo and Daniela, however, argue that their ice cream is made according to an old Nardini family recipe. Their parlours in Glasgow and Edinburgh are not called Nardini's - at least for now.

Both Pete and his elder brother Aldo are grandsons of Pietro and Rosa Nardini, who emigrated from Italy to Scotland in 1890. The famous Art Deco Nardini's Esplanade Café and Restaurant in Largs was built in 1935, and its ice cream has been served to kings, queens and prime ministers.

Everything was indeed sweet in the Nardini world until the late 1990s, when an outsider was asked to revitalise the fading business. David Hendry had become a successful funeral director before accepting his friend Pete's invitation to become the first non-Nardini on the board.

The decision was backed by Aldo but opposed by their cousins who took legal action to stop it. They lost and left the company, along with their sons.

"The company was in a precarious position, which was why Pete asked me in," said David Hendry later, after becoming chairman. "It is now debt free, out of the woods and into a new phase of exciting new growth."

The group includes P Nardini and Sons and the Nardini Ice Cream Company and employs 200 people. It has begun to expand, buying four restaurants in Glasgow and East Kilbride.

Having supported Mr Hendry's appointment, it is understood that Aldo Nardini disagreed with the new man's plans to sell ice cream to supermarkets and open 20 cafés. The 70-year-old found himself voted off the boards of the various companies last summer.

"We want to retain the family company ethos and all that is best about Nardini's," said Pete afterwards. "But we have to move with the times."

Lawyers for Daniela, Aldo and other parties involved in the case said last week that they could not comment until after the Court of Sessions hearing.