The Club is very pleased to announce that Richard Walker OBE, MD of Iceland Frozen Foods plc, will be Guest of Honour and Speaker at the first Club Dinner of 2023.
Continuing the entrepreneurial and creative spirit of his father, Sir Malcom Walker, the Iceland business has become one of the giants of UK retailing, with annual sales of £3 billion, more than 1000 company-owned stores in the UK, Ireland and Czech Republic, 25000 employees and an exporter of its own brand products to more than 40 countries around the world.
Under his stewardship, Iceland is a multiple winners of the awards for ‘Best Big Company To Work For in the UK’ and ‘Best Online Supermarket in the UK’; and in 2018 became first major retailer in the world to commit to eliminating plastic packaging from its own label products.
Iceland was the first supermarket to launch priority shopping periods for the elderly and vulnerable in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, introduced interest-free loans for disadvantaged low-income customers, and is the world’s first food retailer to join the Climate Pledge, committing to becoming Carbon-NetZero carbon by 2040.
A frequent contributor to TV and Radio news & current affairs programmes, Richard has taken a stand on many social, environmental and political issues from sustainability to the cost-of-living crisis. He accepted the invitation to join the Government’s Business Council, saying that, “having a seat at the table will enable business leaders to support the government in its ambitions to bolster our economy while levelling up, confront issues facing our sector, make sustainable choices and future-proof our business landscape”.
Book your tickets to this event here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/512270383507