Iceland Foods is launching a further recruitment drive in January 2021, offering a total of 3,500 new jobs across the UK. These comprise 1,000 vacancies for home delivery drivers and 2,500 for store assistants, principally to work as online pickers to help meet the growing demand for online shopping.
This follows the creation of more than 3,000 new jobs during the first six months of the pandemic last year, and the recruitment of a further 3,300 temporary workers to support the normal seasonal spike in sales over Christmas. Many of those engaged on these temporary contracts are now being offered extended roles in the business.
Iceland’s multi-million pound investment in people, vehicles and systems last year enabled it to handle a 300% increase in home deliveries year-on-year by September 2020, and gave it the total capacity to handle up to 750,000 orders per week. This industry-leading expansion means that Iceland still has online delivery slots available in most parts of the UK, despite the further surge in customer demand since the latest Government lockdown announcement in England on 4 January.
David Devany, Chief Customer and Digital Officer at Iceland Foods, said, “We’re equally delighted to be one of the very few supermarkets with online delivery slots available to customers right now, and to be able to offer yet more job opportunities as a result of the continuing growth in demand for our service.
'Our Iceland team is now well over 30,000 strong and I am exceptionally proud of the way our store and delivery colleagues have gone above and beyond during the pandemic, introducing new measures to help their local communities and offering a truly outstanding service to our customers.
“As an illustration of this, I can do no better than quote from an email I received at the weekend from a customer who had not tried Iceland before the pandemic: ‘I am absolutely delighted with the service I have received from you from day one.
'I have always been able to get goods delivered by yourselves quickly and efficiently ... the service has been second to none with a good variety of products and always an excellent choice of delivery times, not to mention no delivery charge and items priced very reasonably.
'The delivery drivers have always been good, and always on time which is a magnificent feat. I honestly cannot praise the service we have received enough, particularly during these trying times ... I will forevermore be an Iceland shopper.’”
Iceland offers free delivery on online orders over £35.
