To never shop at Iceland again

[Lentillover1900]

Brilliant for picking up weird ice cream treats for the children in summer that no where else stocks and my children love the hot dog stuffed pizza crusts for Friday pizza night but I have just read this, and my poor children will be forever deprived of the most revolting looking pizza on the planet ....

To summarise. Iceland increased sales by 20% to £2.9 billion (not a typo) over lockdown. However they are the only big supermarket chain not returning the £40 million tax relief they received. So essentially we have given £40 million at a time when they are taking in money like never before.

Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Aldi, Lidl - are ALL returning

You say they increased sales by 20%. Did their operating costs increase?
If you can say theIr net profits increased by 20% I would understand your point.

Iceland is my nearest shop and I use it for my top-up shopping.

There are three ladies who've work there for years and they are absolutely lovely and we always have a nice chat.

They seem to treat the staff well so I am happy to carry on shopping there.

If I was going to start boycotting supermarkets I would start with the ones that couldn't deliver normal groceries but could send out over priced "essentials" boxes with over inflated delivery charges.

Iceland was also the only one who managed to directly deliver to me despite on the list.

Although I am torn with Morrisons as the on their site I couldn't yet I was able to shop with them via Amazon.

It's sensible for them to hold on to every penny the Government decided they were entitled to. I own a small business and could have survived the year without the grants. I still claimed every penny I was entitled to because it's the prudent thing to do so. I have no idea what the Government's plans will be going forward re potentially increasing business rates, etc. No doubt we'll end up paying back the 'relief' money over the next few years in one way or another.

This article explains why the MD is not repaying the money: www.business-live.co.uk/retail-consumer/iceland-not-tesco-says-boss-19861734

I'm sure Iceland execs have looked at this thread and gave exactly zero fucks.

😂😂😂😂

Their sales have increased, but not their profits!

British Gas are firing thousands their engineers in a few days who don't sign up to less pay, more hours, timed jobs (which will have major safety implications), less holidays, less sick, no bank holiday payments, and no weekend payments. They made 900 million in profits last year, and took 29 million on Covid relief funds.

Basically forcing their experienced staff out without any redundancy pay and paying for unexperienced engineers on even worse terms to replace them. Plus the safety aspect of rushed jobs and inexperienced staff for a premium product.

The BG thing is insane.
Hopefully they've updated their out going message as only a couple of weeks ago there was no mention about the on going industrial action, even though it's been happening since January iirc. Delays were due to Covid according to their message.

Boycotted them years ago when i didn't agree to let them bully me into being their customer by billing me insisting they were my supplier.

There's something ominous in the atmosphere in my nearest Iceland. I've no idea why but I'm sure I can hear the whisperings of lost souls in there. The staff seem friendly enough though.

The one a bit further away is lovely though. I don't shop there that often as its a good bus ride away and I've got plenty of closer options but they do have very nice pizza (but so does Lidl)

Another government mismanagement of finances but nowhere near as bad as billions for a failed test and trace system. Blame them for not attaching conditions or making it a loan, not Iceland for their response.

You’re not unreasonable to not want to shop there again. It’s completely up to you why you spend your money with a particular business. However, this wouldn’t stop me shopping there - it’s the governments job to give relief out appropriately. If they received it legitimately and lawfully, I don’t see why they should be expected to pay it back.

Hardly their problem the govt gave them this money. There are plenty of businesses benefitting from the pandemic. One dodgy PPE supplier on the "govt mates list" made millions from PPE and still put staff on furlough www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/12/pest-control-firm-million-pound-covid-contacts-claimed-thousands/

I will be shopping in Iceland. You can shop where you want.
Tge supermarkets did i one after the other. Competitive promotions was all i felt ..never felt impressed by any of them.

They shouldn’t have a choice about returning it. They should be made to!! Disgusting.

Like a PP, I don’t even know why they were given the money in e first place!!

@PinkiOcelot

They shouldn’t have a choice about returning it. They should be made to!! Disgusting.

Like a PP, I don’t even know why they were given the money in e first place!!

Presumably because under the rules of whatever the scheme is they were entitled to it. That's pretty obvious isn't it?

Iceland are the only supermarket that has committed to NO Palm Oil in their own products as despite all the attempts to produce ethical palm oil its pretty much impossible this is a majorly fantastic thing to do so despite the tax thing I think they are still an ethical company

I love Iceland (and also Farmfoods which will surely see me banned from here?)
I will continue to shop there as I'm on a tight budget plus the staff in my local one are lovely.

They were the only supermarket I could get a delivery slot with in lockdown so I'm going to continue to reward them for that!

ilike iceland and will certainly be remaining with them.

To be honest this won't put me off. Customer service during lockdown has been great. I started getting delivery last year when we were isolating, and subsequently had Covid, but have carried on using them. They are reliable and unlike some don't send ridiculous substitutes. Once our milk leaked in the van, I said it didn't matter but the driver later dropped another off on his way home!

[quote BoJoHoNo]It's sensible for them to hold on to every penny the Government decided they were entitled to. I own a small business and could have survived the year without the grants. I still claimed every penny I was entitled to because it's the prudent thing to do so. I have no idea what the Government's plans will be going forward re potentially increasing business rates, etc. No doubt we'll end up paying back the 'relief' money over the next few years in one way or another.

This article explains why the MD is not repaying the money: www.business-live.co.uk/retail-consumer/iceland-not-tesco-says-boss-19861734[/quote]
“The owners have extracted almost £150 million since the onset of the pandemic” to buy out a former shareholder and acquire 28 restaurants.

He doesn’t mention any of that in his explanation whatsoever!

I live a long way from my elderly, computer illiterate parents who are both CEV.

At the start of the first lockdown I was desperately worried about how I would get food to them.

Iceland were the only supermarket who had delivery slots available.

They have delivered to my parents every week for the past year at no charge (free delivery over £35spend).

I have no idea how they managed to ramp up delivery capacity so massively and still get things right, it must have been incredibly expensive to take on extra staff PPE etc.

One week the milk had leaked in the van on the way over and it could not be delivered. The driver dropped some off in his own car that night on his way home so they wouldn't be without milk for a week.

Thank you Iceland staff

@LouLou198 x posted with you. Its interesting we both had the same experience with the milk, it makes me wonder if it's actually company policy or if they just employ a lot of good eggs.

@NoMoreMuchin maybe it is policy, but every delivery driver we have had has been really friendly. When we had Covid last year I asked the driver to stay clear of us and leave the shopping at the bottom of the drive. A few weeks later he delivered our shopping again, and he took the time to ask if we had all recovered.

Yes, the drivers are friendly.