Iceland is a British supermarket chain with stores in the UK and Ireland. The company deals in high-quality frozen foods, vegetables, and prepared meals. Malcolm Walker and his business partner Peter Hinchcliffe started the business in 1970 with one store in Oswestry, England. They started this business while still working at Woolworths, and as soon as their employer discovered their business, he terminated their job. Iceland initially traded only in loose frozen foods. Within the next five years, Iceland went on to open more than 15 stores in North Wales. In 1979, Iceland moved its head office to Wales, and in 1984 the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange. In 1984, fourteen years since its beginning, Iceland now had 81 outlets.
The company went on to acquire Bejam, its competitor and by 2004, Iceland had 760 stores around the United Kingdom. In 1999, the company launched its free online grocery shopping service under the name Iceland.co.uk fascia. However, the company reverted to the name Iceland in the early 2000s. Iceland has over 920 stores and plans to open another 40 stores in the United Kingdom thereby creating another 1,250 new jobs.
