Iceland began shutting several of its stores at the weekend after the supermarket chain admitted struggling in the current economic climate. The chain which focuses on frozen food opened in the 1970s and became the first food store in the UK to remove artificial colourings, flavourings and non-essential preservatives from its products in the mid-1980s.
The chain closed shops in Mill Lane, Bromsgrove and Chineham Shopping Centre and Basingstoke yesterday (February 26). According to the Mirror, four more are set to cease trading in the next month.
This includes one premises in the White Rose Centre in Rhyl and then another one on South Street, Newport in the Isle of Wight. On the same date, Iceland in St Catherine’s Place, Bedminster, Bristol will close its doors.
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Finally, on March 27, the store in the Deiniol Centre, Bangor will serve customers for the last time.
An Iceland spokesperson said: "We continually review our Iceland Foods and The Food Warehouse store portfolio to ensure we’re delivering the best experiences for our customers across the country."
There are over 900 Iceland branches around the UK and it is currently uncertain as to whether staff working at the selected branches are at rick of redundancy. The chain has been operating on a loss in the six months up until September with an operating cost of £4million.
Its boss, Richard Walker, said the company has been forced to halt opening new stores as it had to deal with a £20million increase in its energy bills and insisted it was 'fighting to keep the lights on'. He called for an energy price cap for British businesses as his chain has struggled more than most because of its reliance on fridges and freezers.
Speaking toThe Mail on Sunday, he said: "We've got to make decisions because we have got this unmanageable volatility. In some instances, it might just be easier to mothball shops or temporarily close them because the energy costs are just completely unsustainable."
Many other retailers are set to close their doors across the UK also. Marks and Spencer has decided to speed up the process of closing stores across the country in a five year shake-up. 110 stores are being closed altogether with 104 new 'bigger and fresher' food stores opening.
A total of 67 out of the 104 stores have had closure plans accelerated with the following seven stores being closed this year.
Iceland shops that are to close:
Chineham Shopping Centre, Basingstoke - February 24
Mill Lane, Bromsgrove - February 24
White Rose Centre, Rhyl - March 14
St Catherine’s Place, Bedminster, Bristol - March 25
South Street, Newport, Isle of Wight - March 25
Deiniol Centre, Bangor - March 27
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