Iceland Boss Offers Job To Waitrose Worker Who Was Sacked For Tackling Easter Egg Thief

The executive chairman of Iceland has publicly offered a job to Walker Smith, the 54-year-old Waitrose employee who was sacked after 17 years of service for having the audacity to challenge a shoplifter.

Smith was working at the Clapham Junction branch of Waitrose in south London when he confronted a repeat offender who had filled a bag with luxury Easter eggs worth around £13 each – Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs, to be precise.

After a brief struggle, the bag split, sending the chocolate treats flying everywhere before the shoplifter fled. Smith was subsequently sacked, with Waitrose citing a breach of company policy which prohibits staff from confronting shoplifters.

Well, Waitrose’s loss is Iceland’s gain (and opportunity to rub their balls in Waitrose’s faces), as chairman Lord Richard Walker has publicly offered Smith a job via X and LinkedIn.

Lord Walker (below) wrote: “You’re welcome to a job with us. We even share the same name…”

Walker wrote this in response to a post by Smith which read: “Thank you everyone for getting in touch with kind messages and support, I really appreciate it. I didn’t think it would blow up like this but now it [sic] has my priority is getting a job.

“I’m based in Clapham Junction so if you or anyone you know is looking for a reliable, conscientious employee please reach out. I was at Waitrose for 17 years so warehousing, customer service – except dealing with shoplifters(!), or similar would be amazing. Thank you all.”

Jeez, what a PR own goal for Waitrose. It reminds me of the time they sacked that autistic lad after four years of unpaid work, only for Asda to swoop in and give the guy a job. Waitrose have basically made the same PR fvck up and allowed Waitrose the same good publicity off the back of it that Asda got last time.

Even Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the sacking as “disgraceful” and wrote to Waitrose CEO Tom Denyard urging Smith’s immediate reinstatement and a bonus for his “bravery and initiative”.

Furthermore, a GoFundMe campaign has raised over £7,000 to assist Smith with rent and bills, as he had recently moved into a new studio flat before losing his job.

Waitrose maintains that its policy is designed to protect staff from harm and that the reporting of the incident does not cover the “full facts” of the situation. Which doesn’t really help much unless you want to share those full facts. Maybe they’d been trying to get rid of Walker Smith for some time?

Well, in any case, it looks like the guy has found himself a new job (+£7k from the GoFundMe), so all’s well that ends well. Glad to see there’s at least one boss out there who recognises that a worker willing to go above and beyond to stop the store losing money can only be an asset to the company.

For the shopkeeper told by police to take down a sign calling shoplifters ‘scumbags’, click HERE. Crazy.