Iceland Foods today released Frozen Out, its first-ever supermarket ‘manifesto’, designed to give customers a voice as the country heads towards the General Election.
Featuring findings from a comprehensive survey of more than 6,500 customers, and colleague and customer listening panels at stores up and down the country, the manifesto brings high street realism to Westminster. And with 39% of Iceland customers undecided on who to vote for, it is bound to make politicians sit up and take notice.
The document will be shared with all political parties ahead of polling day on 4 July, and reveals that people are still suffering significantly from the cost-of-living crisis. When asked what the biggest issue facing Britain was, cost-of-living came out on top for all customers, with three quarters (74%) being worse off than they were in 2021.
Customers were also asked about their experiences accessing public services, from the NHS to state education. The data within the manifesto document revealed 16% of respondents said they can never get a GP appointment, to the point that 22% have stopped trying to get one – painting a worrying picture for health across the nation. To add to this, just 27% of respondents were happy with local council services and many are worried about the quality of their children’s education.
Throughout the supermarket research, customers feeling left behind by politics and politicians came through most strongly. More than two thirds (67%) of respondents said they didn’t feel represented by any major political party, with one customer sharing that, “the current government has no true concept of what struggle or poverty these days is.” Despite this, more than 94% of Iceland customers will be voting in the General Election, even if almost a third (32%) didn’t know who their current MP was.
The manifesto concludes with a challenge for political leaders to prioritise real-life impacts as opposed to abstract figures, and to collaborate with businesses to create meaningful change. As part of this, Iceland has committed itself to continuing to listen to colleagues and customers nationwide.
Iceland Foods Executive Chairman, Richard Walker, explained the motivation behind the project: “The gap between high office and British high streets has never been bigger, and our colleagues and customers have made it clear that they believe their voices aren’t being heard. This is what we’re looking to change by using Iceland’s platform as a business to campaign for them and hold politicians to account.
“The general election campaign is the perfect starting place – even if it came a little sooner than expected – but this manifesto is only the start for us. These issues aren’t going away anytime soon, and we are going to build on this and if we succeed, we hope it will help form the basis on which to rebuild British high streets by placing people at the heart of the strategy instead of politics.”
