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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Sarah Butler

‘I am a hypocrite’: Iceland boss Richard Walker on the retailer’s struggle to go green

Richard Walker photographed at the Iceland Headquaters in Deeside
Richard Walker: ‘If we didn’t make a profit we couldn’t provide jobs and pay tax and do good.’ Photograph: Richard Saker/the Guardian

We have been in the Iceland store for just 10 minutes, and Richard Walker, boss of the UK’s homegrown discounter, has already admitted to being “a hypocrite” who will not deliver on a pledge to remove plastic from its shelves next year.

Despite the self-criticism, the boyish Walker, 41, has an infectious enthusiasm for the business he literally grew up with: his parents founded Iceland with one shop in 1970, a decade before he was born.

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