'I'm a Staffordshire paramedic swapping 999 calls for 99s with ice cream side hustle - it cheers me up'

A Staffordshire paramedic is swapping 999 calls for 99s with a sweet side hustle - flogging ice creams.

James Shemmeld’s now six-figure turnover business started as a way for him to destress from his challenging job as a first aider.

The 46-year-old now runs four ice cream vans which combined make an average of £60,000-a-year. This is on top of his £200,000 private ambulance and paramedic service he also runs from his home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.

The dad-of-four used to sell ices and 99s as a kid and loved it so much he splashed out £13,000 on a second hand van and did it up during the Covid pandemic.

He said: “I started work as a paramedic with West Midlands Ambulance Service in 2013 and then started my private business in 2015. When we first started the business it was first aid training, then we branched out to event paramedical services.

“In 2020, we had a contract visiting people with Covid to give advice. My team were assessing the patients but many were dying the next week. It was depressing, I was spending weeks away from home and my wife said I'd changed. It was really difficult, because that was everyday you were doing that, and it got to the point where I realised that my mental health was being affected quite severely.

“One day I decided to buy an ice cream van to cheer myself up and to distract myself from my day job. I searched on eBay and found one for £13,000. I did it up and got it certified and just started selling ice creams. In 2020, the ice cream van was a side hustle but from 2021 onwards it really took off and I had to buy more vans to keep up with demand.”

James says his ice cream business is now “taking over” from his day job as a paramedic.

He said: “It’s just different, with the ice cream van I get in it and drive it and I'm away with the fairies. None of the stresses of the medical side exist. They both involve a van with people running towards it, but they’re polar opposites and I love that.

“The ice cream van is the main work now for me, it’s taken over - I do the medical as and when. I mainly do international rescue now. It’s still a big part of my life, but the ice cream is where my heart lies.”

James’ passion for ice cream started when he was a youngster.

He said: “When I was a kid my mum was single and when the local ice cream man Paulo came around she took a fancy to him. His way to get in my mum's good books was to take me with him. Paulo was my father figure, he taught me and brought me up and installed morals. I stopped around 20 and ended up doing the paramedic thing but deep down I really wanted to get back to the ice cream vans.”

In a touching gesture, his former ice cream mentor Paulo reached out to him and gave him the first van he worked in as a kid. James now works as an ice cream man three to four days a week - with some regulars getting medical advice along with their chilled treats.

He said: “People have found out I’m medically trained and do come up and ask for a consult while ordering an ice cream. I had one woman come up to me and say I've got this rash and she lifted her top up for me to take a look. You’re never not a paramedic. I've got a defib in the back of the ice cream van. I’ve even had to park the van up and rush to help people who are suffering a medical emergency.”

James says he only sells ice creams for £1, making him one of the cheapest in the country.

He said: “I don’t want to charge too much for my ice creams. It wasn’t about the money, it was about improving my mental health. I love what I do.”