Iceland boss offers job to Waitrose worker who tackled shoplifter
The boss of Iceland has offered a job to a man who was sacked by Waitrose after he prevented a shoplifter from attempting to steal luxury Easter eggs.
Richard Walker, boss of the budget supermarket chain, posted on LinkedIn telling Walker Smith, the shop assistant sacked by Waitrose: “You’re welcome to a job with us. We even share the same name.”
Waitrose’s dismissal of the shop assistant has caused an uproar in recent days, with a Conservative Party frontbencher calling for the worker to be reinstated and handed a bonus.
Walker Smith’s sacking came after he tackled a shoplifter at a store in Clapham last week.
Smith had worked for the up-market grocer for 17 years and said he recognised the looter as a repeat offender.
He was informed by a shopper about the attempted theft before he approached the person and grabbed a bag containing £13 worth of Lindt golden easter eggs.
The bag fell to the floor and the chocolate smashed into pieces, which Smith then threw at a shopping trolley “out of frustration” while the shoplifter dashed out.
Smith apologised to his manager but was sacked a few days later.
Tory frontbencher: Sacking sends wrong message
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, wrote to Tom Denyard, the managing director of Waitrose on Monday, telling him to reinstate Smith.
He wrote: “Store staff and the public should be supported to intervene. Otherwise, shoplifting will continue unchecked.”
The Tory frontbencher said dismissing Smith sent “entirely the wrong message” because it “penalises those who act while offenders are left unchecked”.
Iceland’s head office has followed up their chief executive’s LinkedIn comments with a formal offer of employment, according to reports.
This comes after a wave of shoplifting in Clapham where a crowd of youths stormed a Marks and Spencer branch in the south London suburb on multiple occasions last week.
The supermarket fiercely condemned the incidents, which it said left one shop worker in hospital after being attacked with ammonia.
Six teenage girls were arrested for anti-social behaviour in relation to two separate incidents, according to the Met Police.
M&S: Shoplifting a ‘systemic issue’
Tinus Keeve, M&S’ retail director, called on London mayor Sadiq Khan to crack down on violent crime against shop workers.
The supermarket director wrote in the Telegraph: “In the past week alone we have had gangs forcing open locked cabinets and stripping shelves, two men brazenly emptying the shelves of steak and walking out, a large group of young people ransacking a store before assaulting a security guard, a colleague headbutted trying to defuse a situation and another hospitalised after having ammonia thrown in their face.
“We need to recognise this for what it is. A systemic issue. A growing issue. And one that demands a co-ordinated response across government, policing and industry.”
M&S claimed staff are scared to come into work because stores are being targeted by criminal gangs.
More than 14m people in the UK have witnessed violence or abuse against retail workers in the past year, according to trade body the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
There were 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers every day last year, on average, making 2025 the second-worst year for incidents on record.
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “The safety and security of our Partners and customers couldn’t be more important to us, and we have policies in place to protect both.
“There is a serious danger to life in tackling shoplifters. We refuse to put anyone’s life at risk and that’s why we have policies in place that are very clearly understood and must be strictly followed.
“We have campaigned for some time for more to be done to protect shop workers from offenders, including retail crime being made into a specific stand alone offence.”