Iceland is planning to axe a further five stores this year, bringing the total closures in 2023 to 16.

The first of the frozen food retailers stores to shut will be in St David’s Place, Swansea, on 29 July, followed by St Cowdenbrath High Street in Fife, Scotland, on 12 August, This is Money reported.

On 2 September, Iceland’s Llanelli, Wales store will be closing, while its Market Shopping Centre site in Crewe and its store on Grange Road, Birkenhead will be the last to shut on 16 September.

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This comes following previous closures this year at its Flint, Beccles, Bromsgrove, Basingstoke, Rhyl, Bedminster, Bangor, Newport, Berwick and Hexam branches.

Despite this, Iceland currently has around 500 stores across the UK, 24 of which were opened within the previous financial year, while it has rolled out around 200 in the past 10 years.

However, last September Iceland executive chairman, Richard Walker, put a halt on any planned store openings as its energy bill at the time, hit a £20m increase.

Walker told This is Money: “We typically open more than 20 new stores each year, creating many new jobs and contributing to the growth of local economies.”

However, he said that the supermarket will “continually review the retail experience” offered to its customers, adding that it has “always made a small number of store closures every year, as local shopping patterns change and shop leases expire”.

“The business is currently trading very strongly, achieving record market shares.”