Townsend Business Park support helps Rossi’s scoop sweet expansion success

With over a hundred years serving its famous ice cream to dessert-lovers in North Belfast, Rossi’s is celebrating a significant business milestone made possible by the support of a historic business Enterprise Park.

Rossi’s has celebrated its expanding production at its Townsend Business Park headquarters to satisfy hugely increasing customer demand by taking on a second unit.

After enjoying a 30 per cent sales growth during the lockdown and having recently expanded to a second store at Cityside Shopping Centre offering coffee and cakes alongside 40 different ice cream flavours, Rossi’s owner Anita McCann knew the time was right for business development.

Crowds have flocked to Rossi’s shop on the Antrim Road for genuine Italian ice cream in cones and tubs for over a century. Over the years, the menu has expanded and changed to suit current tastes. Rossi’s now offer a variety of favourite core flavours, including specialities Guinness, Salted Caramel and Biscoffi, and ten new vegan options.

But today, such is the popularity of their renowned ice cream that the volume required to keep up with demand can’t be made on the premises. Instead, Rossi’s experts create their favourite flavours at their ice cream HQ located in Townsend Business Park, which has held a place in the city’s industrial history for over 300 years.

The site where Townsend Enterprise Park is located today has played a significant historical role in the industrial and commercial life of Belfast since a major foundry was established there in 1838. Today, it continues to be a hive of business activity, including the development of Rossi’s production.

“Rossi’s is a much loved and respected heritage brand in Belfast and beyond. It has always moved with the times. Now we are taking another forward step in our history with the expansion of our production HQ at Townsend Business Park,” said Anita, who has owned the business for 15 years.

“Townsend Business Park has been our home for over five years, and we all love it here. It is ideally located to meet our business needs as it forms a triangle between our Antrim Road shop and our new Yorkgate premises. Accessibility is so convenient, and the Park’s services are excellent. We are delighted we have this opportunity to move into a second unit as the capacity for increased production is driving our expansion.

“The Townsend Business Park team has brilliantly supported our current success and recent expansion. Throughout Covid, they helped us not just survive but flourish by offering a rent holiday and unlimited support with any business-related enquiry. They have also given us added marketing support and are always giving back where they can.

“I can’t thank them enough for the genuine practical and emotional support they have provided,” she said.

Townsend Enterprise Park is a charitable organisation aiming to stimulate social and economic regeneration and is located just off the Westlink, a stone’s throw from the city Centre. The Park is home to more than 40 small-to-medium-sized businesses, employing over 300 people from across the city and beyond, providing flexible workspaces, meetings, and training and conference rooms.

CEO of Townsend Enterprise Park, Margaret Patterson McMahon, said: “We extend congratulations to Anita and her team at Rossi’s for their recent expansion. This is the cherry on top for everyone who has worked hard to make this success happen.

“At Townsend, we strive to offer more than just business premises. We nurture, support and help every business in our Park where and when we can. The park is a charity, so it is profit-making, not profit-taking. That means we act as a proactive seedbed for businesses to take root and grow in the best possible conditions for success.

“Townsend Enterprise Park was opened in 1987 with an ethos of creating local employment and incubating homegrown businesses, and we are proud to sit at the very heart of this historic community. Rossi’s recent expansion is an excellent example of how there’s room for everyone in the story of Townsend Business Park, whether they are new startups or long-established and much-loved businesses ready to change and grow. We are here to support businesses and help them flourish.”

Visit https://townsend.co.uk for further details

Caption: Pictured are Rossi’s owner, Anita McCann alongside the CEO of Townsend Enterprise Park, Margaret Patterson McMahon at the new shop in Cityside Shopping Centre, Belfast.