delivery driver

supervisor

deputy manager

store manager

senior supervisor

Iceland Foods Ltd

Senior Supervisor
ICELAND - Runcorn
Responsibilities
I am reviewing this company based on what happened to my husband 

He was a senior supervisor for an Iceland store in Runcorn
The store was owned by Cool Trader when he first went there which was Icelands sister company, in 2012 Iceland sold the Cool Trader stores all except four to Herron Foods
The top four were taken over by Iceland one of which was his store

The first thing to take place was the promised 12 weeks training being cut to just two weeks and very little signed off on the training file he was given

He was then quite Frankly thrown in at the deep end once the Runcorn store was re-opened after the re-fit

They promised to support them by saying the store would have an Iceland manager and half and half Iceland trained staff and Cool trader staff, this again was a broken promise all the old Cool Trader staff returned to their store with my husband no trained Iceland staff at all except a temp Iceland trained manager who had little to no interest in continuing the training as he know he was only there a short time till the full time manager was assigned to the shop

My husband had had a small pay increase as Iceland do pay more than Cool Trader did but for this from day one he was expected to give up hours upon hours of his time unpaid to plug in the gaps for the understaffed store and also give up breaks and days off to cover for people, he would work 12 + hours as the norm which he was only paid for eight of those hours, he was also expected to forgo breaks to cover the shop and had to do without meal and comfort breaks having to eat while working or wait till he arrived home for his meal which was late at night, he would also get calls sometimes twice through the night as the store a had faulty alarm and as he was the only key holder who bothered to answer his phone would have to return to the store to switch it off and we did not live close it was around and hour and a half round trip each time it happened,

European working law states a person has to have an 11 hour break from the end of one shift to the start of another this rarely happened in my husband's case he would get home at 10pm or later and then be expected back in for 6.30AM to 7AM the very next day

He was done in and moody but waited to see what happened when the perm manager took over

This manager had no Iceland experience either and was quite Frankly a bully from day one he was out to get my husband and had a warning issued with his first few weeks, my husband tried to argue he had not had sufficient Iceland training or Iceland trained staff to help him but they refused to listen at all and issued a written warning 

The long unpaid hours continued and the area manager was also a bully they continued to watch my husbands every move until they found an error to issue the second written warning which they did,

My husband was loosing his confidence and in fear of loosing his job and he never ever got the holidays he requested for family events and had to miss everything they were always refused and by now he was working six days a week for 12 + hours a day and was ill he had already had two weeks off with blood pressure caused by work related stress but nothing improved at all

In fact because of holiday refusel he had one week left at the end of 2013 holiday year and tried and tried to book this every date refused and was told in the end it was too late to book and as Iceland don't carry holidays overy they were simply lost and to this day he has never been paid for this week, the area manager backed the store manager in this decision,

By Xmas 2013 his bully manager had found another reason to give him a warning and this would be the final one so my husband decided to cut his loses and leave with no job to go to he had had enough and his health and family life were suffering and to continue would have made him ill, he felt useless and all his confidence built up over years of retail employment had gone making him doubt his ability and he was depressed and his blood pressure was really high the doctor advised he take sick leave and remove himself from the situation,

We did however raise with the help of the trade union a grievance against the store and area manager which Iceland agreed to give to him

A meeting was arranged and he was advised after all they had heard that day as to what had happened to him in that store they would investigate but if it went in his favour and he was told to return to work in another store the last warning that had not been heard as he went on sick leave upon his return it would be upheld and the possible outcome would most likely be him being dismissed,

We received the results of their "investigation" through the post two weeks later and they had completely closed ranks having a valid reason for everything with my husband to blame for each and every incident based on the people they had interviewed yes the manager and area manager and a handful of the store staff who of course in fear of their own jobs would would say anything Iceland wanted them too 

My husband dismissed their offer to return to another shop so he could get his final warning and be dismissed and just left, he now works for another frozen food company and is flying confidence returned he gets praise not beaten up and negativity as he did with them

We could have appealed the decision or conclusion to their "findings" but he was so ill over all the bulling and belittlement they took pleasure in inflicting on him he decided to cut his loses and put the whole sorry story behind him 

Iceland are an awful company to work for more so for Supervisors, they may claim to pay more than other food outlets but the hours and humiliation you have to endure to collect this wage is appauling and if the hours people actually work not what their Nexius system says you have worked were paid by the hour this would not meet minimum wage at all,

They follow the work ethics of a 19th century workhouse only beating up the staff with any errors they work never any praise for a job well done at all and people under that amount of pressure working those hours with little rest or meal breaks are more likely to make mistakes through tiredness and fear

Starting working here, I enjoyed it! Around 6 months later is when things started to go downhill.

I was put on a shift every single day for up to 11-14 days and asking for a day off in between was hard as it was always "no we are understaffed sorry."

Shift changes are supposed to be at least 24hrs in advance but you would get a text in the morning asking to change shifts or have a longer shift (or come in early etc).

If you said no, when you went in someone would subtly try to find out the reason why.

I did 50hrs one week and managers simply laughed. I was exhausted.

During Christmas time, everyone was under the impression it was going to be super busy which means shifts will be longer. This was something said by my managers too.

I had one day off in December which was Christmas day. When I brought this up to my managers, they laughed at me and called me stupid behind my back (later told to me by someone else). As I was apparently supposed to know that the system automatically gives people their days off and it isn't something the managers do themselves.

Working 2 weeks in a row wasn't abnormal for me at the time so I spoke to them about it early on (but still got laughed at).

I was due for an 8hr shift but in the morning that day, I was told to do a 10hr shift. My manager wanted to give me a 30min break. I asked for 1hr and they said "that's fine for you but not for me." But I pushed for my break. (At this time, people doing 9hr shifts were given an hour automatically anyway so it made no sense why I was not given the same).

A couple of times I only had 15min break on an 8hr shift which meant I had to scoff my food down which isn't fun.

I experienced and witnessed racism and homophobia from my own colleagues!

Some of it was towards me, and others I witnessed and heard.

My colleagues had no care for guidelines which meant customer service/care was at a very poor level.

I remember helping with frozen stock and the boxes were soggy due to how long they were left out.

Same with home deliveries, they were just left there for up to 40 mins at times.

This also meant I was pressured into not telling anyone about certain breaching of guidelines. They are aware now though of course but is still not a nice feeling.

In general, there is a lot of covering up for other colleagues which just means standards go down for customers.

No responsibility or consequences are given so people are able to get away with anything.

Duty managers were trained up within a few weeks but weren't exactly classed as so by managers (behind their backs).

A couple of DMs weren't allowed to do certain things as they just weren't trained up for it and it remained this way the entire time I was there. It makes things harder for them.

Colleague was in the process of training but their it got stopped for a while just because they could.

My managers put their hours down so they people would be basically forced to quit (that's what my manager told me from their own mouths!).

^ This also instilled fear that managers can do what they want and cut hours just because they feel like it.

Colleagues had constant smoke breaks and would stay upstairs talking whilst you do all the work.

They would also do everything they could to get 100 on the online picking which meant customers were getting products they didn't order (and they were not substitute products either) simply to hit that target/

I got told a couple of times that I would be trained up to be able to do x and x but it never happened.

I did extra shifts, I helped with the date alert and the pulling stock/putting out on Sundays but never was given the opportunity to develop further.

Oh, but if you did work a Sunday, the colleagues who closed up Saturday did half a job, left the rest for the Sunday team and was just very unprofessional as managers weren't in on that day.

My colleagues would talk about others behind their backs (usually about our other co-workers) and very nasty things would be said.

It was not a nice environment to be in regardless of the homophobia and racism.

With the sales incentives, everyone worked the hard in order to reach #1 but it was never appreciated by our managers. We would miss #1 by one or two sales but no one was given thanks or appreciation for our hard work.

It left a lot of us unmotivated and some of my colleagues told me they weren't going to push the incentives as they were tired of their work not being recognised.

The way we were treated was a big downer and everyone had the same complaints but none had the courage to speak up (which is valid considering what my managers were like).

I was borderline harassed by my managers whilst on grievance leave for something which could have waited until my return to work.

I would get private messages and subtle comments in the work group chat which made my grievance 10x harder..

Racism and microaggressions continued throughout my employment.

Job-life balance is not great at all. Sometimes you would only have 1 day off per week. Sometimes you would be on a late shift then have to be in work early the next morning.

All in all, I am grateful for the skills I learnt as I genuinely wanted to learn more and found some small opportunities to help out but my time at Iceland was a VERY traumatic experience.

I started working for Iceland In Sept. I was hired as a senior supervisor and I was told that the manager wanted a firmer hand whilst dealing with staff which would include keeping them in check and ensuring all jobs were followed through correctly.
I was told that i was expected to be the floor manager and over see all aspects of the shop.
Within one week i was left alone with no training but an induction video!
It was one of my worst experiences to date as not only could i not understand the operations but i also looked weak in front of the staff on arrival.
A couple weeks passed and still no training, although we now had a store manager come and do training with my manager whilst i was left in the weeds.
every day they were side by side whilst during my 8 weeks there i had one training session. it simply wasn't good enough.
I remember messaging my manager after a horrible day asking him why he was doing this to me and asked him if he was testing me.

Once i became familiar with what i needed to fight through the days alone, I was then asked to start delegating more and controlling the team.  
At first i was apprehensive as i had heard stories about how difficult and unprofessional particular members of staff were so decided to gain their respect and befriend them before clamping down in particular areas.
Most members of staff needed nurturing and i found myself becoming a personal councilor that included peoples issues outside of work. 
Other issues included Night staff reporting that bullying was taking place from duty managers on shift.
Once i took it upon myself to try and get to the bottom of these problems, i was labelled "brutal" because i wasn't going to be fed lies and have people excuse their unprofessional actions and work ethic. 

At the age of 33 i have worked in many high pressured work places and have never once worked with a team so unprofessional or disorganized in all my life. 
Most staff complained about each other and spoke poorly about colleagues behind their backs. It really was demoralizing

Once morning i came into work and found that the duty manager had done nothing over night and had left the store in an unacceptable way . .  
I messaged her and told her it wasn't acceptable and she then called the store to shout at me over the phone. I then sent her pictures to document everything and that she could understand why i wasn't happy.
She again called the store and started shouting at me once again. This was the one particular staff member i was told to watch out for. Clearly she has things her way and nothing else.
She came back into work to speak to my manager and I and made out that i had been out of line simply because she wasn't used to authority.

She then and there decided to drop her position of night duty manager. This was essentially what we wanted as i was told we need to restructure the team. Her easy life so far was shattered by fresh eyes coming in and spotting the weak link.

On the same day later that afternoon, we were told that another member of staff wouldn't be coming into work because he felt that he had been accused of stealing ice creams. No accusation was made apart from the freezer staff being told about missing items. There were witnesses to this conversation. It was a Saturday afternoon and clearly this member of staff was again trying his luck to simply take the day off whilst in fact adding pressure on me by even claiming he wanted to take his own life because of the said accusation. This left me extremely uncomfortable and understandably scared to work for a company that allows their staff to make such accusations against senior members. I walked out that day and cried for the first time in years because someone said i was to blame for them wanting to take their life.. Unbelievable

After this horrific day I took time off and told my manager i was stressed, rather than speak to me about the situation or try and help his number 2, he documented my message and informed the higher powers that be.

several days later i went in to speak to him about how i was doing, he told me that they would bring my probation review forward to let me go. i was shocked so i left rather than being "let go" for things not working out as result of me being stressed.

In a nut shell, this particular position was to be filled by someone who would keep their mouth shut and get used to each day being horrible. not someone trying to better the force.
The problem is that due to such a low number of applicants, the weak and problematic staff never get replaced or even disciplined for their actions as it will just add even more stress for the manager.

I feel genuinely sorry for anyone taking this role without the training that is needed such as i did and forced out for simply caring to much months before Christmas. I have since been told that things are still a shambles and that doesn't surprise me at all. Ever since my first week i was told that things were not always "this bad". I heard that phrase every single week i was there.

Iceland is a company in decline, I started working for the company as a Christmas temp and over the last year I have seen a lot of misconduct and things that generally just wouldn't happen in the majority of supermarkets.

The typical day of work insists of waiting on a delivery that's hours late 99% of the time because of warehouse pickers taking strikes due to bad conditions and inefficient management, during this period you will likely talked down to by your manager about pace because they expect you to run around the store doing more senior staff's jobs for minimum wage, when delivery finally does arrive It's usually the supervisors that unload it  for the under 18s to stock whilst they sit in the staff room and talk about other staff behind their backs. 
At the end of the day you can expect to rush around the store in an attempt to dress the stock whilst senior staff sit in the office, if dressing/face up isn't completed then pickers will likely moan the next morning no matter the circumstance.
Most of the time you will be put down to less break than you are legally entitled too or you simply won't have enough staff to take your break.

Management is pretty poor with the manager often times coming in early to sit in the office and watch staff through the cameras instead of coming in later on for closing when they're actually needed. 
Management (at least in my experience at this specific store) have no regard for the wellbeing of their team and will expect them to go above and beyond with no recognition or incentive as if it's the norm, communication is terrible and management will be so poor at some points that under 18's will be 'given permission' to serve alcohol because of staff shortages.

I've heard my manager make demeaning jokes and comments about young staff to other staff involving sexuality and appearance, despite those exact same team members usually being the most hardworking. 
Manager was rough, creepy and generally dislikable for the majority of my employment, very unprofessional work environment.

The work culture at Iceland is less than desirable, they don't take much care and consideration as to whom they employ as evidenced by some of the comments I've heard during my employment as there's a lot of secondary-school-tier drama. The only benefit to working at Iceland would be the 15% discount card which means very little due to rising prices, stagnating wages and the fact that there are no other benefits to coincide.

The hardest part of the job would have to be the lack of hours given to stores which in turn makes it so that cleaning VERY often doesn't get done leading to floors constantly being dirty and that everything is rushed, meaning that it's usually done to a less than great standard.

The few benefits that come with working for Iceland don't come close to outweighing the cons although they are still there, the benefits are that a lot of the staff are lovely people to talk to and I've had good laughs with younger employees - often times they will go out of their way to help you with whatever it is you're struggling with, I've received lifts to and from work from very kind and down-to-earth colleagues without even having to ask which was quite nice. The other benefit would be that Holiday allowance is decent, however, it is not as good as other stores and very often you will have managers mess with your holiday.

This review is simply my own experience of working at Iceland and is not representative of all stores, however, I have heard that the majority of Iceland stores face similar issues


The Good Points:

1. 15% Discount: One of the notable perks of working at Iceland Foods is the 15% discount available to employees. This can be particularly beneficial for those who regularly shop at the store, providing some savings on groceries and other necessities.

2. Decent Pay:The pay at Iceland Foods is generally considered to be fair. While it might not be the highest in the retail sector, it is competitive and helps ensure that employees feel adequately compensated for their work.

3. Colleague Giveaway: The company offers various giveaways and promotions specifically for employees, which can be a nice bonus. These giveaways can range from product samples to more substantial prizes, adding an element of excitement and appreciation for the staff.

4. Holidays: Employees at Iceland Foods receive a fair amount of holiday time. This allows for a good work-life balance and ensures that staff have the opportunity to rest and recuperate.

 The Bad Points:

1. Bad Management: One of the significant drawbacks of working at Iceland Foods is the quality of management. Poor management practices can lead to a frustrating and demotivating work environment, making it difficult for employees to feel supported and valued.

2. Cliquey Atmosphere: The workplace culture at Iceland Foods can be very cliquey. If your face doesn’t fit, you may find yourself feeling excluded and isolated. This type of environment can be very challenging, especially for new employees trying to integrate into the team.

3. Shoplifters Galore: Another major issue is the high incidence of shoplifting. The frequent presence of shoplifters can create a stressful and unsafe work environment, as employees have to constantly be on alert.

4. No Care for Staff Safety: There appears to be a lack of concern for staff safety. This can range from not addressing shoplifting incidents appropriately to not ensuring that the store environment is secure for employees, which is a serious issue.

5. Poorly Maintained Equipment: The equipment at Iceland Foods is often not serviced or replaced when requested. This can hinder employees' ability to perform their duties effectively and safely, leading to further frustration and inefficiency.

6. Lack of Staff: There is a significant issue with understaffing, as the allocated hours are often too tight. This puts additional pressure on existing employees, leading to burnout and reduced productivity. The lack of sufficient staff makes it difficult to manage the workload effectively and maintain a smooth operation.

7. Very Stressful The combination of the aforementioned issues contributes to a very stressful working environment. The lack of support from management, the cliquey culture, safety concerns, inadequate equipment maintenance, and understaffing all add to the pressure employees face.

8. Unpaid Breaks: Lastly, the fact that breaks are unpaid is another downside. This policy can be seen as unfair, as it effectively reduces the overall pay employees receive for their time at work.

 Conclusion:

Working at Iceland Foods has its perks, such as the employee discount, decent pay, and holiday allowances. However, these benefits are overshadowed by significant drawbacks, including poor management, a cliquey atmosphere, frequent shoplifting incidents, a lack of concern for staff safety, poorly maintained equipment, understaffing, high stress levels, and unpaid breaks. Prospective employees should weigh these factors carefully before deciding to join the company.

The job itself isn’t bad, it’s straightforward and simple to grasp - you’re literally delivering shopping to people. However there is quite a lot of heavy lifting involved with the crates. I now have a really bad back from it as you’re constantly lifting. It’s quite a physical job so if you’re not physically fit I wouldn’t recommend it.

In training the online course tells you that your ‘pit stop’ (getting the orders ready to load straight onto the van) will be done for you in preparation for your next run - this isn’t the case; drivers have to do this themselves which takes up additional time. I have to get into work an hour early each day because otherwise I wouldn’t be leaving on time for my run - because this is ‘voluntary’, you don’t get paid for coming in early (even though you basically have to). If you came in for the exact start time of your shift you’d end up leaving like half an hour late which has a knock on effect for the rest of the day. You only get 2 hours on each run to deliver the shopping and depending on how busy the runs are this can mean you’re rushing to try get the deliveries done in time to get back to load for the next run. A lot of the time unless you leave early for a run you don’t get back in enough time to load your van and end up leaving late. They don’t give you enough time to load up and you only get given roughly 5 minutes at each drop to deliver the shopping - they don’t take into account that you might have 9 or 10 crates to deliver to a block of flats for example, which takes longer.

You’re lucky to get a lunch break. If you’re on a 12-9 for example, the lunch break for drivers is meant to be between 2 and 3. If you get back to store at 2, the time it takes to do the pit stop and load your van means it’s already almost 3pm anyway so if you was to take your hour break, at 3 you’re meant to leave for your next run - doesn’t make any sense to me but drivers don’t seem to be cared about there.

The sat nav on the device you’re given is shocking - half the time it takes you to the wrong address or constantly freezes mid drive. I’ve had to use my own phone for a sat nav multiple times.

The vans are in terrible condition and desperately need replacing, but the company is happy to just fix whatever the problem is and continue; despite them persistently breaking. The freezers on the vans are hit and miss - some will be excellent but others don’t even keep the food frozen in fact food begins to slowly defrost in them.

Management are okay; quite flexible with working hours and holiday which is good, however I found that if you don’t do something to help them out they quite clearly get annoyed by that; it makes you feel bad for saying no to overtime etc. Some staff help you out but others couldn’t care less. Staffing could be better as well - I’m often on my own for the last 3 runs of the day (3-9pm) which means I get no help with the pit stops and this often makes me run late.

At the end of the day in my opinion drivers seem to be forgotten about or ignored; the company doesn’t care how long the runs are or how heavy the crates are or the fact that you’re on your own half the time to do everything, stressing because you’re on a very tight time limit. But I guess as long as customers are getting their shopping nothing else matters right?

During my 4 years working with the Iceland company I have worked my way up through the in store roles from a Sales Assistant to a full time Home Delivery Supervisor gaining practical experience of  the full in store operation from checkout operation and customer service up to the management of others and team leading. This in store experience has been invaluable in giving me personal and professional breadth and depth of knowledge of the challenges faced in both retail and head office from ensuring correct inventory and accurate planning to dealing with a customers and colleagues in a professional manner.
	Working in one of the busiest stores in the company (Hayes Town), I have learned to work with different types of people, work under pressure, manage people and manage workload of myself and others whilst enjoying what I do.
	Previously as a Supervisor I have ensured all store members and me are aware of targets, policies, the best ways of practice to succeed and have a full knowledge of responsibilities, consequences and importance for business. I have worked closely with store managers & home delivery drivers and I have gained experience of the role requirements and expectations of myself and others. I had helped 3 stores to achieve their targets and save money for the store and for the business, meet all required legal criteria demonstrable through the reducing customer complaints, increasing customer service standards, filling personal files, helping to recruit new staff, check eligibility, fleet checks, support staff at any time where my professional opinion or experience is needed. Supervisor is a key tool in this as this person has to deal  with a home delivery drivers, store manager, area manager and frontline colleagues, customers. I have experience and am confident in communicating with various work groups in the company and have demonstrated this through my career with Iceland.
Currently I am working as an EPOS tester under Retail Ops/IS which involves testing new systems / in store operations prior to their release into Retail. This was a new opportunity which enabled me to gain a stronger understanding of the difficulties faced by Head Office with launches of new systems / processes into Retail. On a day to day basis I am required to work with numerous new projects such as changes to coupons at the checkouts, new card readers and alterations to our web alterations to our website. This has allowed me to develop my technical and problem solving skills whilst also liaising with numerous colleagues within Head Office which has increased my profile with colleagues from different areas of the business. The testing requires a methodical approach whilst adhering to strict deadlines set by the business to ensure accurate and successful landing of our new processes/systems.
	My experience with the company has allowed me to develop myself to ensue that when a decision needs to be made I take all those into account who will be impacted by the decision made. I am  willing and enthusiastic to improve my personal skills, progress in my career,  whilst learning from best role models and my peers. Thank you for your consideration and please do not hesitate to contact me for any further enquires.
Your sincerely,
Jevgenija Tolkaca

When in the interview, and on your induction day the management are all very helpful, persuasive even, and make an endless stream of promises which you would have no reason not to believe - things like ‘we’ll have all the deliveries set up and ready to be put in the van’ - for the first couple of days work they do indeed follow through with this but then after about a week working there it has stopped and you’ve realise, like it or not, you have to go into work around 45/60 minutes early in order to sort out the deliveries, as there are usually issues with them and they are randomly scattered in no order. The induction day is your training day and last for 2 delivery windows where you are out with a senior driver, this is categorically not enough training if you have had no prior delivery experience, something I had not. After a few days, you learn yourself and start to get up to speed. The deliveries are generally speaking alright, you get some big ones, some small - be prepared to be carrying about copious amounts of juice because that is by far and away the most common product, and due to Iceland’s position as a budget retailer these deliveries are frequently in flats without elevators. The vans themselves are old, pretty shockingly maintained and in serious need of a thorough clean, really are disgusting. That goes for the crates that deliveries are put in too, which were never once cleaned in over a year working there. The routes are all pre-planned by Iceland’s route planner, which is laughably poor. You are given a flat 3 minutes per delivery in the system, that can be for one bag of shopping for a house with a driveway but similarly it could be 10 crates up a top floor flat, approximately 3 trips up and down the stairs (depending on weight). The planner does not take into account traffic, road works, diversions etc. So local knowledge of the roads is pretty much essential otherwise you’ll struggle. Delivery windows are filled right up, and towards the start of my time at iceland they routinely over-filled the delivery windows. 

About the shop, staff are all friendly and up for a laugh. Management, when the chips are down and the shop is busy, don’t really give a toss about the drivers, despite them being arguably the biggest source of income for the shop. When the shop is quiet and there aren’t staff quitting or staff on holiday management is brand new, nice people but they themselves are under-appreciated and over-worked. 

In terms of trying to get an arrangement with hours and days to not work and not wanting to do late night finishes etc, don’t waste your breath. They will promise you what you want but then by the next day deny it or bail from it. 14 months in Iceland and countless broken promises is what eventually brought me to the end of my tether. The £9 an hour wage sounds decent but the amount of unpaid overtime and the over-working expected of you makes you quickly realise that £9 an hour is far too little for how much you do. 

Couldn’t stress this enough - do not take this job unless it is literally a last resort.

Working at Iceland Foods has given me ample perspective on both the operations and culture of this once-thriving retail giant. Unfortunately, my experience has highlighted several concerns that suggest the company is on a downward trajectory. 

1. Declining Employee Morale: There is a noticeable decline in the morale among the staff, largely due to under-staffing and massive cuts in hours which leads to excessive workload, compounded by widespread job insecurity.

2. Inadequate Training and Development: Training programs are sparse and inadequate, leaving employees ill-equipped to handle their responsibilities or advance their careers within the company.  

3. Poor Communication: Communication gaps between upper management and front-line staff are wide, with crucial decisions and changes being poorly communicated.

4. Subpar Management Practices: There is a prevalent sense of disconnect between our store manager and our team. Many store managers demonstrate a lack of essential leadership qualities like empathy and effective problem-solving.

5. Uncompetitive Pay and Benefits: The pay rates of pay by Iceland Foods are not what they should be, especially considering the demands placed on employees, making it difficult  retain quality staff.

6. Too Many Product Changeovers: The frequent and often abrupt product changeovers lead to confusion among staff and customers alike, affecting the shopping experience and operational flow in stores. Also the same product offers on bi-weekly or monthly rotation.

7. No Work-Life Balance for Managers: Managers often find themselves working 6-7 days a week, which not only hampers personal well-being but also leads to burnout and reduced productivity. If you have a family then this job isn't for you.

8. Micro-Managing Culture: A pervasive culture of micromanagement from area managers and above stifles the initiative and creativity of store staff and leads to a tense workplace atmosphere.

9. Store Managers Lacking Sales Knowledge: There is a notable deficiency in critical sales knowledge and skills among store managers, which directly impacts the store's performance and the ability to drive sales effectively.

10. Constant 'Daily Teams Calls' for Job Justification: The frequent requirement for daily teams calls demonstrates a lack of trust in store managers' abilities and contributes to a culture of job justification rather than productivity and innovation. This approach consumes valuable time that could otherwise be spent on the shop floor improving customer service and store operations.

11. No Privacy for Personal Issues: The lack of privacy for discussing personal issues has further eroded trust between employees and management. Staff often feel unable to share sensitive information, leading to unresolved issues and heightened workplace stress.


Not really a driving job in the traditional sense, more a physical labour job where during a 9 hour shift, you load and unload hundreds of (often overweight/ overpacked) crates on/off the van, then you lift the bags from within the crates and carry them to the customers door. You need to be physically fit and even then on busy days you will be going home with aching limbs. 
The sat-nav is the worst software that can be used, totally unreliable and useless to the degree where you just forget about it and use your own phone for Google maps. 
The route planning is very hit and miss, with more misses that leave you struggling to get around the route (each delivery slot is 2 hours then back to the store to unload/load again. 
The only way to have a chance of completing a busy 2 hour slot is to come into work 20-30 mins early at the start of your shift and same at lunch - this is because your first drop will be scheduled for 10 minutes after your official start time. In this 10 minutes you are expected to log on to the system and complete a full van inspection, the go to the freezer and hog crates down to loading bay, then drag crates from the refrigerated room and sort all the above with the room temperature groceries already in the loading bay. After sorting this lot into the individual customers and ticking off each crate the van is then loaded, the route planned and off you go - so if you haven't came in early to essentially work for FREE you are up to 30 minuted behind schedule before you even drive out of the store !
So potentially you need to deliver under pressure so as to get back for the next run- you may be behind now for your whole shift and if you run into your lunchtime or run beyond your shift finishing time which WILL happen you will not be paid any extra, again essentially working for FREE- add all those daily 20 minutes before shift start, early back from lunch starts and running over shift finish time and you've gave all the money over the minimum wage back to Iceland. 
You will also fall for a lot more of the late Friday and Saturday 9pm late finishes as the other few drivers that have managed to stick to this job will be looked after, even to the point of NEVER working a late weekend- for every one of those drivers getting home early, that leaves a late shift to be fulfilled and guess who's doing it ?
The healthiest way to work this role (in my opinion) is in short half-day shifts if you are on the common 24 hr p/w contract, BUT this then ruins every single day of the week including weekend days as you are travelling to and from work daily and (to me) defeating the purpose of a part-time 24 p/w role.
The other store and driving colleagues are generally good friendly people.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Delivery driver 4932 salaries reported	£13.61 per hour
Supervisor 1 salary reported	£13.08 per hour
Deputy manager 412 salaries reported	£30,983 per year
Store manager 101 salaries reported	£40,889 per year
Senior supervisor 2 salaries reported	£14.27 per hour

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