Food sector boss warns of permanent shortages in restaurants and shops Food sector boss warns of permanent shortages Shoppers in the UK should expect permanent shortages of products now, according to a food and drink industry leader. The food and drink sector was short of around half a million workers, CEO of the Food & Drink Federation, Ian Wright, told the Institute for Government’s panel on supply chain disruption. The nation would not [...]
Iceland boss: Government Covid test plan ‘pointless solution to Pingdemic’ Iceland boss: Government Covid test plan 'pointless solution to Pingdemic' The Iceland boss, Richard Walker, has said that the government’s Covid-19 test plan is a “pointless solution” because it excludes supermarket workers. “It’s only depot and factory workers so that only fixes half the supply chain issue,” Walker told the BBC. Despite daily testing for some sectors starting on Monday, some smaller firms have complained [...]
Supermarket boss says there is no need to start panic buying The boss of Iceland has said that there is no need to begin panic buying, but that the “pingdemic” risks shutting stores up and down the country. Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland, told 5Live’s Breakfast show that photographs of empty shelves were “isolated incidents”. Over 500,000 people were alerted by the app in the [...]
Small shops face £1.7bn debt, says report by ex-boss of Iceland July 16, 2021 Small shops are struggling under £1.7bn debt, the former retail chief of Iceland, has warned. Independent businesses’ borrowing increased fourfold during the pandemic, according to the report. While the money borrowed has allowed small shops to survive, the task of paying back the loans still looms over them, said Bill Grimsey, the author of the [...]
Iceland to open borders for fully vaccinated travellers this week March 17, 2021 Iceland will this week open its borders to all visitors who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 without mandatory testing or quarantine. The North Atlantic country hopes more tourists will help revive its pandemic-hit economy. In a statement, the government said it will welcome all fully vaccinated visitors into the country without being subject to border [...]
Iceland to launch new convenience store format Swift this week March 15, 2021 Iceland is preparing to unveil a new convenience store format, with the first branch set to open this week. The frozen food retailer will launch the Swift store concept in Newcastle on Thursday, according to reports. The store will be in a converted Iceland branch and will sell “the full spectrum of grocery” with a [...]
Iceland hires 3,000 workers to keep up with online delivery demand September 8, 2020 Iceland has created more than 3,000 new jobs as the supermarket seeks to meet the surging demand for home deliveries created by the coronavirus lockdown. The budget supermarket announced this afternoon demand for deliveries increased four-fold after the lockdown was announced, with online shopping orders jumping 300 per cent since August last year. Iceland said [...]
Jobs at risk as Iceland launches review of management structure January 26, 2020 Frozen food retailer Iceland has launched a review of its management structure, in a move that could see some roles axed. The supermarket said it will review the structure to ensure it is running the “business as efficiently and economically as possible”. The review is ongoing and no final decisions have been made, although no [...]
How Iceland found the perfect Christmas campaign formula December 11, 2019 Twas the month before Christmas (in 2018), and the festive cheer was seemingly “cancelled” for British frozen food giant Iceland. “We’re absolutely gutted,” a defeated Richard Walker, Iceland’s managing director, told the BBC. “We wanted to share this message far and wide.” Well, for Richard, Christmas miracles are very much real. This particular miracle began when [...]
Virgin Active and Iceland investor Brait to offload assets November 27, 2019 South African investment firm Brait, which owns stakes in New Look, Iceland and Virgin Active, has announced a financial restructuring plan that will see it offload its assets. Shares in the Johannesburg-listed company plunged more than 15 per cent after it unveiled plans to sell off its assets in a bid to reduce debts and [...]