Iceland has experienced strong trading despite the Omicron variant of coronavirus has rapidly spread across the UK.
According to Iceland’s managing director, Richard Walker, trading figures for the British supermarket are “ahead of expectations”, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
“Sales are actually really quite strong, we’ve had a good couple of weeks and we’re ahead of budget,” Walker told Sky News.
Walker also revealed that the rise in infection rates have started to impact the level of staff absences.
READ MORE: Iceland slashes Christmas veg prices to just 1p a pack
This comes as Walker revealed said that his staff will not make customers wear masks when they became mandatory in late November.
Instead, he said the supermarket would focus on the “long-term recovery of the high street”, suggesting the new rules could “discourage” shopping.
At the time, Walker said: “We fully support the reintroduction of compulsory face masks in shops, however we won’t be asking our store colleagues to police it.
“It’s crucial that we stay focused on the long-term recovery of the high street.
“We need to continue to encourage people to shop in stores if they feel comfortable, and I’m hopeful that the latest guidelines won’t discourage customers from doing so,” he added.
However, Just last week the British supermarket opened 450,000 Christmas delivery slots while also criticising its competitor’s “panic booking frenzy”.
It comes a month after Tesco customers, trying to book early through the £96-a-year Delivery Saver scheme, found themselves in a queue of 300,000 people.
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