Soft Serve Ice Cream Hire for Events | Pan-n-Ice

Create a soft serve experience that looks, tastes and feels completely on-brand.

Pan-n-Ice provides premium soft serve ice cream hire for corporate events, product launches, exhibitions, pop-ups, festivals and international brand activations. Choose from a compact staffed counter, a fully branded cart, one of our custom ice cream trucks, a self-service experience or a machine built seamlessly into your event stand.

From custom flavours and colour-matched soft serve to branded cups, cone sleeves, edible wafers and full vehicle wraps, our experienced team can manage every detail.

Based in London. Available across the UK and worldwide.

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Soft serve experiences you can trust

11+ Years of Experience

500+ Events delivered

10+ Professional soft serve machines and setups

320 Portions per hour from selected machines

Soft Serve Ice Cream Hire for Events and Brand Activations

Premium soft serve, designed around your event

Soft serve is familiar, joyful and almost universally loved, but the right setup can become far more than a simple dessert station.

Pan-n-Ice creates complete soft serve experiences around the objectives of each event. For one client, that might mean a sleek one-metre counter serving premium vanilla soft serve at an office celebration. For another, it might involve a fully wrapped truck, a bespoke vegan recipe inspired by a beauty product, colour-matched ice cream, branded edible wafers, custom uniforms and an interactive prize mechanic.

Our team will recommend the right machine, format, staffing level and service plan according to your venue, guest numbers, campaign objectives and available space.

You can book a complete staffed service, hire a machine without staff, create a self-service station or bring us into a wider activation alongside your stand builder, production agency or creative team.

Choose the right soft serve format

Fully staffed soft serve bar

Our trained event team delivers, installs, operates and removes the complete setup. We serve guests, manage the product and keep the bar looking immaculate throughout the activation.

This is the preferred option for premium corporate events, exhibitions and brand campaigns where presentation and reliable service are essential.

Branded soft serve cart

A compact cart creates a strong visual presence without needing a large footprint. Our smaller setups can operate within an area of approximately one metre by one metre, making them suitable for retail environments, offices, exhibition stands and indoor venues.

The cart can be fully branded to match your campaign, or styled more simply using interchangeable graphics.

Ice cream truck or van

Serve soft serve from one of the distinctive vehicles in our fleet, including our custom-built VW camper van ice cream truck, Citroën HY truck and vintage Mercedes ice cream trucks.

Vehicles can be completely wrapped for a full brand takeover or adapted using more cost-effective temporary graphics and decals.

Food truck, Airstream or trailer

For larger outdoor events, festivals and public activations, we can serve from a range of trucks, Airstream-style units and trailers.

These provide additional branding space, strong street presence and the capacity to support high-volume campaigns.

Self-service soft serve station

Guests can dispense their own soft serve before visiting a toppings station to personalise it.

Self-service works particularly well where interaction is part of the experience, although we will assess the venue, audience and expected throughput before recommending it.

Machine-only hire

Pan-n-Ice can provide machine-only hire where the venue or client has its own suitable team.

We can advise on machine selection, setup, power, operation and product requirements. Machine-only hire should have its own dedicated website page because it attracts a different type of enquiry from a fully managed activation.

Built into your exhibition stand or activation

We regularly work with production companies and stand builders to integrate our equipment into a larger event environment.

The machine can be incorporated into a bespoke counter or set so that the soft serve service feels like a seamless part of the campaign rather than a separately hired catering station.

SCALE AND LOGISTICS

Fully branded, down to the last detail

Soft serve gives brands an unusually flexible creative canvas.

We can apply branding to almost every visible part of the experience, including:

Counters, carts, trucks, trailers and machines.
Backdrops, canopies, umbrellas, flooring and set pieces.
Menus, digital screens and queue signage.
Cups, tubs, cone sleeves, spoons and napkins.
Edible wafers, chocolate pieces and other toppings.
Uniforms, aprons and hats.
Sampling trays and guest giveaways.
QR codes, competition mechanics and data-capture touchpoints.

You can provide completed artwork using our production templates, or our in-house design team can develop the visual treatment with you.

For longer campaigns or major launches, we can manage the complete creative and production process, from initial concepts through to fabrication, staffing, logistics, service and breakdown.

Custom soft serve flavours and colours

Pan-n-Ice uses its own premium soft serve mix, developed from the same rich and creamy recipe associated with our Pan-n-Ice kiosks.

We can serve familiar favourites such as vanilla, chocolate, caramel and fruit flavours, as well as vegan and sorbet-style soft serve.

For a genuinely bespoke activation, our product-development team can create a custom flavour, colour or recipe around your campaign. This might involve:

Matching soft serve to a brand colour.
Developing a flavour inspired by a fragrance.
Translating the notes of a beauty product into an edible experience.
Incorporating a client’s food or drink product.
Developing a limited-edition seasonal flavour.
Creating two flavours that swirl together.
Producing vegan or alternative formulations.

Bespoke development may require an NPD fee and additional lead time, depending on the complexity of the brief and the ingredients involved.

A complete sensory brand experience

The strongest soft serve activations connect several elements of a campaign.

The flavour can reference the product. The colour can match the creative. The truck or counter can become a focal point. The edible wafer can carry the campaign message. A QR code on the cup can lead to a competition, product page or data-capture form.

This gives guests something they want while creating a natural reason to approach, pause and interact with the brand.

A well-designed soft serve activation can:

Attract attention and increase footfall.
Create queues and visible excitement.
Encourage guests to remain at a stand or pop-up.
Start conversations between guests and brand ambassadors.
Produce memorable photography and social content.
Reinforce campaign colours, flavours and product characteristics.
Support competitions, sampling and data capture.
Leave guests with a positive, highly shareable brand memory.

Most importantly, soft serve puts smiles on faces. It is quick to understand, easy to enjoy and capable of making a campaign feel more generous, playful and human.

Capacity for small events and major international activations

Pan-n-Ice owns and operates more than ten professional machines and setups, including equipment from established manufacturers such as Carpigiani and Gelmatic.

Selected high-capacity machines can produce up to approximately 320 portions per hour, depending on the portion size, recipe, operating conditions and service format.

We choose the equipment according to the brief rather than forcing every event into the same package.

For a major technology event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, our team delivered approximately 12,000 soft serve portions over the course of the event. For smaller indoor activations, we can provide a compact setup requiring only around one metre by one metre of operating space.

There is no fixed upper limit to the scale of event we can support. Multiple machines, service points and teams can be deployed for large campaigns.

Straightforward event requirements

A compact soft serve setup will commonly require:

Approximately one metre by one metre of floor space.
One standard 13-amp plug socket.
Approximately one hour for installation.
Approximately 30 minutes for breakdown.
Suitable access for the equipment and team.

Our higher-output machines may require a 32-amp single-phase power supply.

Most setups do not require a direct water connection or drainage point during service.

We can operate indoors or outdoors, although every outdoor event is assessed for weather protection, power, ground conditions, direct sunlight and vehicle access.

Our team is accustomed to working with loading bays, restricted setup windows, service lifts, exhibition halls, retail sites and complex venue-access arrangements. These details are confirmed during planning so that there are no surprises on the day.

A fully managed service

For a fully staffed booking, Pan-n-Ice can manage:

Initial consultation and recommendation.
Event format and machine selection.
Creative concepts and artwork.
Custom flavour and product development.
Branding production.
Delivery and installation.
Trained event staff.
Ingredients, cones, cups and agreed toppings.
Service management throughout the event.
Cleaning, breakdown and removal.

For complex activations, our project-management team can coordinate directly with your agency, venue, production supplier or stand builder.

Soft serve can also be combined with other Pan-n-Ice services, including ice cream rolls, branded food trucks, smoothie bars, açai bowls, coffee, frozen cocktails and wider event management.

Soft Serve - Client Case Studies

Saltair x Space NK

We (in partnership with 5th House PR) brought to life Saltair’s new Coral Coast collection exclusive to Space NK, with an immersive brand activation. It was a fully experiential activation that drove amazing social engagement, footfall, and genuine brand connection throughout the weekend!
The event kicked off with an exclusive influencer preview, where creators explored the space, captured content, and received goodie bags featuring the new range.

The public experience invited guests to sign up to the Space NK loyalty programme before sampling the Coral Coast collection with our brand ambassadors on the oversized Saltair props. Guests then headed to our branded truck to enjoy a bespoke vegan Guava, Vanilla & Coconut vegan soft serve, inspired by the collection’s fragrance notes, before receiving a discount card directing them into the nearby Space NK store.

Pretty Little Thing

We had the pleasure of serving up delicious soft serve ice cream in Manchester at the recent Pretty Little Thing event! Our custom ice cream van brought a touch of fun to the occasion, serving up an irresistible selection of creamy, smooth and refreshing soft serve treats.

Soft serve was the perfect way to treat the public and spread some Friday joy, giving everyone the chance to enjoy a little moment of indulgence. With its deliciously creamy texture and classic sweet flavour, it was a crowd-pleasing addition to the event and a great way to bring people together over a much-loved treat.

We loved being part of such an exciting event and adding a little extra sweetness to the day. From serving up smiles to creating memorable moments, our soft serve was the perfect finishing touch to a fantastic Friday in Manchester!

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Corporate event soft serve

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Bring your soft serve idea to life

Whether you need a compact staffed bar for an office event or a fully branded international activation, our team will design the right setup around your objectives, venue and audience.

Send us your date, location, guest numbers and initial ideas. We will recommend the right format and prepare a bespoke proposal.

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Soft serve FAQs

Find answers to common questions about hiring our soft serve service. Replace these placeholders with approved information.

How much does soft serve ice cream hire cost?

Every event is quoted individually because pricing depends on guest numbers, service duration, location, equipment, staffing, branding, flavour development and vehicle requirements.

Pan-n-Ice primarily works on corporate, agency and premium event briefs rather than low-cost domestic machine hire. Send us the event date, venue, guest count and required format, and our team will recommend the most suitable option.

How many guests can you serve?

Selected machines can produce up to approximately 320 portions per hour. Actual output depends on the machine, recipe, portion size and service arrangement.

We own more than ten machines and setups, so multiple service points can be used for large events.

Can the entire setup be branded?

Yes. We can brand the counter, cart, vehicle, machine, backdrop, menus, cups, cone sleeves, spoons, napkins, uniforms, edible wafers and other visible elements.

Branding can range from simple removable graphics to a complete custom activation.

Can you create a custom soft serve flavour?

Yes. Our product-development team can create bespoke flavours inspired by a product, fragrance, campaign theme or brand identity.

An NPD fee and additional lead time may apply.

Where do you operate?

We are based in London and work throughout the UK. Our team can also deliver major international activations, including European events and Cannes Lions Festival.

Do you provide vegan soft serve?

Yes. Vegan and sorbet-style options can be developed. Ingredients and allergen-handling arrangements will be confirmed for each booking.

Can you colour-match the soft serve?

Yes, subject to recipe testing and ingredient suitability. We can develop soft serve in colours that complement the campaign creative.

How much notice do you need?

Two to three weeks is the preferred minimum for a branded activation. More complex flavour development, fabrication or vehicle wrapping may need longer.

Last-minute bookings may be possible depending on equipment and team availability, although express production fees can apply.

How long does setup take?

A standard compact setup normally takes approximately one hour to install and around 30 minutes to remove.

More complex branded trucks, exhibition builds and custom activations may require longer.

Can you serve outdoors?

Yes. We work indoors and outdoors. Outdoor arrangements are subject to suitable weather cover, power, access and ground conditions.

How much space is required?

Our most compact setups can fit within an area of approximately one metre by one metre. Trucks, trailers and larger custom builds naturally need more space.

Do you need water or drainage?

Most of our event setups do not require a direct water supply or drainage point during service.

What power does a soft serve machine require?

Many of our machines operate using one standard 13-amp socket. Some higher-capacity machines require a 32-amp single-phase supply.

We will specify the exact requirement after selecting the equipment for your event.

Can we hire only the machine?

Yes. Machine-only hire is available, as well as staffed and fully managed services.

Machine-only bookings require suitable power, access, operators and handling arrangements.

Can guests serve themselves?

Yes. We can provide a self-service soft serve format where suitable. We will advise whether self-service is appropriate based on the audience, venue, guest numbers and required presentation.