A large attendance gathered at The Queen Hotel Chester for a Club Dinner where Richard Walker OBE, Chairman of Iceland Frozen Foods, was guest of honour and main speaker.
Introducing him, Club chairman Roy Shelton, said; ‘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 £4 billion, more than 1000 company-owned stores in the UK, Ireland and Czech Republic, 30000 employees and an exporter of its own brand products to more than 40 countries around the world.’
Under his stewardship, Iceland is a multiple winner 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-Net- Zero 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 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”.
When accepting the position of Iceland, Mr Walker said his father had given just four words of advice: ‘Don’t f*** it up!’
The Club has made a donation to the Alzheimer’s Society (where Richard is an Ambassador).