Best Served Cold: The Rise, Fall and Rise Again of Malcolm Walker - CEO of Iceland Foods

by Malcolm Walker

This is the dramatic story of the ups and downs of a born entrepreneur.

Malcolm Walker was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1946. With fellow Woolworth’s trainee manager Peter Hinchcliffe, Walker opened a small frozen food shop called Iceland in the Shropshire town of Oswestry in 1970. Iceland became a public company 14 years later, through one of Britain’s most successful stock exchange flotations of all time, and by 1999 it had grown into a £2 billion turnover business with 760 stores.

In August 2000, Iceland merged with the Booker cash and carry business and Walker announced that he would step down as CEO in March 2001. In preparation for his retirement, he sold half his shares in the company and left for the holiday of a lifetime in the Maldives. However, while he was away the new management of the company slashed profit expectations, plunging Iceland into a £26m loss rather than the £130m profit the City had been expecting. Walker was fired and spent three years under investigation by the authorities before being cleared of any wrongdoing.

In Walker’s absence, Iceland’s sales collapsed as customers deserted the company – and, almost exactly four years after he had left the business, he returned as its boss. His amazing revival of Iceland has seen like-for-like sales grow by more than 50% and the business winning the accolade of Best Big Company To Work For In the UK. In March 2012 Walker led a £1.5bn management buyout of the company and is now personally worth over £200m.

The incredible story of Walker’s life – which he tells here for the first time – is as dramatic as any you will find in business, and it serves as a model for how, through hard work and intelligent risk-taking, it is possible from a relatively modest upbringing to build a national enterprise and a household name known to millions.

445 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2013

About the author

Malcolm Walker is a fantasy author from South Australia whose main interest lies in young adult literature. The Australian edition of his debut novel, The Stone Crown, was published in May 2008 and is coming out in the UK November 2009 and has been described as a mix of compelling contemporary narrative intertwined with a lyrical Arthurian tale.

Malcolm was born near Dartford, outside London. His family moved around a fair bit when he was a child and he learnt to rely on his imagination, books, and developed an insatiable curiosity about his surroundings. His older brother’s tales of Kenya and Cyprus fed his interest in exotic places, exploration and what was to become an abiding interest in maps and geography. At fifteen he entered the work force, moving around from job to job - boy-soldier, clerk, door-to-door salesman - but always in the background was a profound desire to travel and in 1973 he set off across Europe and Asia with an old school friend on what was called the Hippy Trail. He was heading for Australia. Not because he was fascinated by the country itself - he knew remarkably little about it - but because it was, apart from New Zealand, the most distant point on the map where English was spoken. Away from Britain for nearly five years, he had various adventures in Central and South America, where he taught English in Peru and Brazil, before a deep longing to see his family catapulted him back to Europe. He re-entered England in style, having hitched a ride in a Rolls Royce with the bodyguard of an Arab prince.

Malcolm lives in Adelaide with his family. He holds a PhD from the University of Adelaide, where he taught English and film until a few years ago. He’s now retired. Currently he’s working on an alternate history/fantasy trilogy for adults. For more information about him or the novel, visit www.malcolmwalker.com.au

Reviews

[Paul Oneill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story of someone who built a business from
Nothing to a multi-million pound enterprise. A must read for any inspiring entrepreneur. If you ever shopped in Britain in the 80’s there is plenty of nostalgia.

[Pimsucha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how he managed to remember all the little details in the book even the names of the people from the start. But he’s a retail genius. I felt the dark period during Bill Grimsey was needed in order to become the better version of the business for Iceland.

[John Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit tough to rate this one, I would probably give it 3.5 but closer to the 3 stars so that is what I have given it.

I LOVE these business autobiographies and this was was brilliantly blunt in its language, as you would expect coming from Malcolm Walker. He didn't pull any punches in describing how he felt about Grimey and others, while the details which he goes into about what it involves listing and then trading on the LSE were fascinating.

The beginning where he sets up Iceland and begins building his empire felt rushed though, which I was quite disappointed at. Likewise at the end once he returns to the business he rushes through to end the story and barely even mentioned the credit crunch and the effects it had on them. The middle part (1980s till mid 2000s) was much more detailed and by far the best part of the book. A little more substance either side of these dates and it would have received a higher rating.

One part I did like was his description of the British High Street how it used to be like and the introduction of home delivery where you still shop in store and leave it there for someone to collect and bring to your house. It brought back nostalgic memories and I remember fondly going shopping with my mum to collect the delivery slot cards as you walk in the door. The sheer novelty that someone else would then take it home for your was quite exciting lol.