Shoplifting on the rise due to cost of living crisis, says Iceland boss

Richard Walker also said PM’s plan to re-introduce imperial measures is a distraction

SHOPLIFTING is on the rise and is being driven by desperation caused by the cost of living crisis, according to the managing director of Iceland Foods.

In an interview with GB News, Richard Walker also described Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to re-introduce imperial measures as a “distraction” that could be confusing for customers.

Asked by Gloria De Piero if he has seen an increase in shoplifting at Iceland stores, he said: “Yeah, we have.

“Yes, we have shoplifting and violent incidents. I look at the report every Monday of violent incidents and they are on the rise, unfortunately – it’s a fact of life in many of the communities that we serve…

“People often think shoplifting is a victimless crime, but actually our staff are on the front line of this and have to deal with some pretty unpleasant characters sometimes.

“But then there’s the other side of it, which is just struggling families. And some of the rise in shoplifting will be just as a result of, not malicious or addictive intent, but people who are just struggling to feed their families because some of our customers might only have 25 quid a week to spend on food.

“And therefore there is very little to go around and spare when you’ve got rising electricity bills, energy bills, fuel costs, etc, etc.”

Asked about criticism of the PM’s plan to re-introduce imperial measures in shops, Mr Walker said: “Yeah, I mean, it’s a nice idea, but…it probably is a bit of a distraction at the moment, if you think about it.

“We’ve got a cost of living crisis. As retailers, we need to be laser focused on working day and night and just delivering the best possible value for our customers.

“And actually, on top of that, potentially a distraction for business, it could be confusing for customers.

“When people are very mindful of counting every penny, we can’t confuse them at the moment either, so it’s probably, in my view, not the best timing.

Mr Walker said that Iceland has cut prices for customers at a time when the prices of some basic food items have increased by up to 50% in the past year.

“We’re investing in certain categories and value ranges that are of particular importance to our customers,” he said.

“So we’ve committed to, excuse the pun, freeze all of our one pound frozen lines to the end of the year, and that’s a conscious investment by us.

“We were making about a 25% margin on that, now it’s a loss leader, so it’s a massive investment by the business over a long period of time, but we know how important those products are to our customers so that ultimately they can help feed their families.

“We’re also doing a range of more tactical and short term measures and targeted measures. Today and every Tuesday we’re giving 10% off to anyone who’s over the age of 60 who comes into our shops because we’re seeing that pensioner poverty is a real issue out there.

“We’ve also dropped the threshold of our home delivery service as well because a lot of our customers don’t want to spend on fuel to drive into town centres.”