How Nigel Langstone got Tesco to love his ice cream

Unimpressed with the cold slop served in British restaurants, Nigel Langstone set out to bring the delights of Italian gelato to Britain.

Nigel Langstone got the idea, but sadly not the energy, for his business while studying in Italy. "I'd sit there and eat a pizza, have some ice cream or drink an espresso and think, this is great pity it will never take off in the UK'." However, while he was subsequently trying his hand at everything from piloting planes to being a private investigator, Italian coffee and pizza took off in Britain in a big way.

In 2004, Langstone was just drawing the curtains on his latest career, as a publican, when he pondered his Italian experience once again. By then Langstone and his girlfriend had had children so he started to think about settling down and "thinking seriously about business".

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.