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Wales Online
28-06-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
Iceland supermarkets make major change to checkouts that will spark controversy
Iceland supermarkets make major change to checkouts that will spark controversy The technology is being tested in two of the retailer's stores and could be rolled out further if the trials are successful Cameras embedded into the checkout process will examine shoppers' features Iceland is rolling out facial recognition technology at its tills in a revolutionary overhaul designed to curb theft and safeguard employees, with two branches already trialling the advanced system. Cameras embedded into the checkout process will examine shoppers' features and cross-reference them with a database of individuals known for causing disturbances, alerting staff when there's a match. Following successful trials, Iceland might introduce this system more broadly among its locations. Facewatch, the surveillance software, is already employed by numerous retail chains including Home Bargains, BandM, and several Frasers Group brands such as Flannels, House of Fraser, Sports Direct, and Evans Cycles. An official from Iceland expressed: "Following a robust due diligence process, we can confirm that our facial recognition trial is now live in two stores and will expand further this year." He continued: "This is part of our continued investment into tackling violent retail crime and protecting the safety of our colleagues and customers." Article continues below The early part of the year saw Iceland announce intentions to inaugurate 20 additional Iceland and Food Warehouse shops, along with the introduction of a grand new £100 million distribution hub occupying 500,000 square feet in Warrington. This large distribution centre located at Omega Park Site in Warrington began operations with GXO as a partner in February, providing goods to around 350 Iceland outlets throughout Wales, the north west of England, and the Scottish borders. In December, Iceland introduced an initiative to support the senior community by offering a 10% discount every Tuesday to those aged over 60 at both Iceland and The Food Warehouse stores, with no minimum spend required. Customers can avail of the discount by showing a valid form of identification such as a senior bus pass, driving licence, senior railcard, or freedom pass. Article continues below Iceland's managing director, Richard Walker, expressed his contentment with the success of the scheme: "We are so pleased with how well the over-60s discount has been received by the public and love hearing stories from customers who are benefiting from the discount." He further commented on the ongoing financial challenges: "The cost of living crisis continues to cause distress in the everyday lives of these customers and that's why we want to keep doing what we can to support them."
Wales Online
26-06-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
Iceland makes major change in stores to crackdown on theft and violence
Iceland makes major change in stores to crackdown on theft and violence The supermarket is introducing facial recognition technology at its tills The cameras could be rolled out across the UK (Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images ) Iceland is implementing facial recognition technology at its tills as part of a significant shake-up of its checkout processes. The move is in response to efforts to combat theft and violence targeting staff, with two outlets already piloting the system. The installation involves cameras scanning customer faces and comparing them to a database of known troublemakers, which in turn alerts store employees when there's a match. Should the trials prove successful, Iceland could extend this facility across stores. Facewatch is also used by many other retailers including Home Bargains, B&M, and members of the Frasers Group such as Flannels, House of Fraser, Sports Direct, and Evans Cycles, reports the Mirror. An Iceland spokesperson commented: "Following a robust due diligence process, we can confirm that our facial recognition trial is now live in two stores and will expand further this year. "This is part of our continued investment into tackling violent retail crime and protecting the safety of our colleagues and customers." Article continues below Earlier this year, the firm unveiled plans to open 20 new Iceland and Food Warehouse stores, and has also launched a new £100 million distribution centre spanning 500,000 square feet in Warrington. The Omega Park Site in Warrington, which commenced operations in partnership with GXO in February, supplies approximately 350 Iceland stores across Wales, the north west of England and the Scottish borders. In December Iceland launched an initiative to help older people. It gives those over 60 a 10% discount every Tuesday across Iceland and The Food Warehouse stores without a minimum spend. To claim the discount shoppers simply need to show a valid ID be it a senior bus pass, driver's licence, senior railcard, or a freedom pass. Richard Walker, the managing director at Iceland, said: "We are so pleased with how well the over-60s discount has been received by the public and love hearing stories from customers who are benefiting from the discount. Article continues below "The cost of living crisis continues to cause distress in the everyday lives of these customers and that's why we want to keep doing what we can to support them."
Daily Mirror
25-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Iceland is making major change to checkouts and 'will expand' to more stores
The cameras check customers faces against a database of known offenders, it then triggers an alert to staff to the store when a match is made Iceland is set to install facial recognition in stores as part of a major change to its checkouts. It comes as part of a crackdown on theft and violence against staff, with two stores already testing the technology. The cameras check customers faces against a database of known offenders, it then triggers an alert to staff to the store when a match is made. If successful, the technology could be rolled out to more Iceland stores. Facewatch is also used by Home Bargains, B&M and Frasers Group – including Flannels, House of Fraser, Sports Direct and Evans Cycles. An Iceland spokesperson said: "Following a robust due diligence process, we can confirm that our facial recognition trial is now live in two stores and will expand further this year. "This is part of our continued investment into tackling violent retail crime and protecting the safety of our colleagues and customers." It comes after Iceland closed its store in Margate, Kent, last weekend, with its store in Inverness, Scotland, following on July 12. Shoppers have reacted to the news on social media. One said: 'Wow they been there as long as I can remember they one of the original shops in that area such a shame.' Another commented: 'This is awful all the elderly people that use this and Morrisons to do the weekly shops will now suffer once again.' A third said: 'Such a shame I remember when it opened.' Iceland, which has over 900 stores across the UK, has not confirmed the reason behind the closures. The supermarket has closed a handful of stores over the last few months, including its Welling branch in London. Its shops in Shenley Road, Borehamwood and Alphington Road Retail Park in Exeter have also been shut down. But it isn't all bad news. The retailer has also opened new stores. Last month, Iceland opened a new city centre supermarket in Derby and another shop at Victoria Chambers on London Road. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to open 20 Iceland and Food Warehouse stores, and the supermarket has also opened a new 500,000 square foot £100million distribution centre in Warrington. The Omega Park Site in Warrington - which opened in partnership with GXO in February - supplies around 350 Iceland stores across the north west of England, the Scottish borders and Wales.
The Sun
25-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Iceland is making major change to ALL its checkouts across UK in new crackdown
ICELAND is set to make a major change to all of its checkouts in the UK in a bid to crack down on theft and violence against staff. The retailer plans to install facial recognition cameras in stores with trials of the scheme already underway. 2 Two Iceland stores are currently trailing the technology with plans in place to roll out the cameras more widely. How does it work? Cameras are reportedly provided by Facewatch, a security firm that also works with Home Bargains and several other big retailers. The technology is said to check customers faces against a database of people deemed to have committed a crime in the past. If a former criminal is spotted the system will alert all staff so that action can be taken. If the tech doesn't find a match on the database the information is immediately deleted. The cameras check customers against a "subjects of interest" database as they enter the store. When are the cameras being installed? The new tech is currently being trialled at stores in Bradford and Salford. Iceland reportedly plans to expand this to six stores by October 2025 and roll it out further following that. The firm claimed that the tech had only been installed after a due diligence process. Iceland said that the the system provided by Facewatch had been reviewed by the Information Commissioner's Office and the firm's status as a data controller made it a reliable partner. It's expected that the tech will lead to a massive 30 per cent reduction in violent incidents in stores. Facewatch claim that the tech is proven to reduce theft by at least 35 per cent in the first year. Retailers across the country have been trialling facial recognition cameras in a bid to clamp down on theft. Which other stores are using the tech? Asda have been trialling a similar system in five different stores since March. 2 Home Bargains, B&M and Frasers Group – including Flannels, House of Fraser, Sports Direct and Evans Cycles, have all been trialling Facewatch in stores. Iceland addressed the roll out of the technology in a statement, with a spokesperson saying: "Following a robust due diligence process, we can confirm that our facial recognition trial is now live in two stores and will expand further this year. "This is part of our continued investment into tackling violent retail crime and protecting the safety of our colleagues and customers." 55k thefts every day across UK By Julia Atherley BRITAIN is facing a shop- lifting epidemic with a record 55,000 incidents a day. In 2024, it cost retailers £2.2billion, up from £1.8billion in 2023, figures show. Offences reported by police in England and Wales have jumped 23 per cent to more than 492,000 in the past 12 months, says the Office for National Statistics. The scourge is being driven by the perception that offenders are rarely caught or punished. Graham Wynn, of the British Retail Consortium, described shoplifting as a 'major trigger for violence and abuse against staff'. Mr Wynn said: 'The rise in organised crime is a significant concern, with gangs hitting stores one after another. 'Sadly, such theft is not a victimless crime; it pushes up the cost for honest shoppers and damages the customer experience.' Labour has promised to make assaulting a retail worker an offence and treat more seriously thefts of goods worth less than £200.
STV News
25-06-2025
- Business
- STV News
Is your local shop storing an image of your face?
Many shops and businesses across Scotland are now using new CCTV technology to try to catch and deter thieves in real time It comes as new statistics show a 16% rise in shoplifting across Scotland Police Scotland is also considering using a system that uses facial recognition to spot criminals But campaigners believe it could worsen racial profiling and raises huge 'big brother' privacy concerns Civil liberties groups say facial recognition poses a threat to civil liberties and risks creating a surveillance state Facial recognition technology has been described as one of the biggest breakthroughs in fighting crime since fingerprints – and it could soon be used by Police Scotland. The technology is already being used by London's Metropolitan Police and officers here are now considering whether to follow in their footsteps by implementing a similar system. But campaigners believe it raises 'big brother' privacy concerns and could worsen racial profiling. A form of live facial recognition is already being used in Scotland to detect criminals, but you need to go shopping to see it in action. Nathalie Fullarton, who has run her store in Partick for more than six years, says crime became so frequent – and the police response so limited – that she turned to Facewatch, a controversial facial recognition system now used by hundreds of retailers across the UK. As a result, she says there has been a significant drop in shoplifting and abusive behaviour in her shop. 'It had got to the stage where they were just helping themselves and walking out the door,' she told STV News. 'Chocolate bars, sweets, low-value stuff the police didn't have the resources to deal with.' Now, a CCTV camera at her entrance automatically scans the faces of customers, flagging up known offenders via a mobile alert. She logs incidents through an app, which are then reviewed and verified within minutes by Facewatch's back office team of former police and security personnel. Fullarton describes the system as both reactive and preventative. STV News Nathalie Fullarton has run her store in Partick for more than six years. 'When the alert goes off, we approach them and give what we call 'extra customer service' – kill them with kindness,' she said. 'They realise we know, and they just leave.' She says Facewatch has saved her store more than £8,000 in losses in a single year, even with a monthly subscription cost of around £300. 'It's not a victimless crime,' she added. 'Every theft hurts. We're not big corporations, we can't absorb these losses. 'There is also this romance of shoplifting on social media. You see videos of people walking into big supermarkets and staff being told 'don't challenge them'. 'Security guards are standing by and watching people walk out the door with loads and loads of items. People see this and think they can do the same thing in small convenience stores.' Fraser Sampson, the former biometrics commissioner for England and Wales and a non-executive director at Facewatch, said the technology is proving a game-changer for shopkeepers by cutting crime and protecting staff. 'Some retailers are reporting up to 70% reductions in theft and abuse,' he said. STV News Fraser Sampson, the former biometrics commissioner for England and Wales. With violent and antisocial incidents against shop workers reportedly reaching 2,000 per day across the UK, Sampson argues that properly governed facial recognition offers a cost-effective, reliable and ethical tool for tackling crime. He said: 'We've moved beyond the debate about whether it should be used. The question now is how we ensure its use is accountable, transparent and proportionate.' Sampson insists modern systems don't retain images unless there's a match with an offender database and compares the technology to police dogs trained to detect specific smells. On the other side of the debate, privacy campaigners are warning that facial recognition software poses a threat to civil liberties and risks creating a surveillance state. They remain fiercely opposed to the rollout of facial recognition, particularly its potential expansion into policing and public spaces. Madeleine Stone from privacy watchdog Big Brother Watch describes the technology as 'intrusive, inaccurate and dystopian'. 'It treats everyone like a potential suspect,' she said. 'I've personally seen children wrongly flagged as criminals. It reverses the presumption of innocence.' STV News Madeleine Stone from privacy watchdog Big Brother Watch. Madeleine claims the software is more likely to misidentify women and ethnic minorities due to bias in its training data, raising fears about discriminatory over-policing. 'Scotland risks sleepwalking into a surveillance state,' she warned. 'This kind of biometric scanning belongs in an episode of Black Mirror, not on our high streets.' Her concerns are echoed by Amnesty International's Neil Cowan, who said the deployment of such technology risks placing people 'in a perpetual police line-up'. 'I think there is always a balance to be struck in terms of rights and policing, but we believe this technology goes way beyond that,' he told STV News. STV News Amnesty International's Neil Cowan. 'It has high levels of misidentification and these misidentifications disproportionately impact particular groups such as people of colour who already face systemic racism, discrimination and over policing. 'What we are talking about here is really the mass surveillance of people who are going about their everyday lives.' Amid ongoing public consultation, Police Scotland insists no final decision has been made on whether to adopt live facial recognition for operational use. Assistant chief constable Steve Johnson, who leads the force's major crime and public protection units, said any future use must have a clear legal basis and public support. STV News Assistant chief constable Steve Johnson. 'We're still listening,' he said. 'We've heard strong views around rights, legislation and accountability. Those are real points of consideration for us.' Johnson said the technology would only be used to detect serious offenders – such as violent or sexual criminals, or those posing risks in the night-time economy – and would not target the general public. 'Rights are not to be ignored. But if technology helps save lives or find a missing person, we have a duty to explore it.' In London, it's not just retailers that are using live facial recognition to prevent crime. The Metropolitan Police deploys live facial recognition vans in areas with high rates of knife crime, including transport hubs and at public events. When the system detects a match with a person on a watchlist, it sends an alert to officers in the vicinity. If there's no match, the biometric data is immediately deleted. But there have been legal challenges against police and retailers in England and Wales after several people were misidentified by the technology. The debate comes as newly released official statistics show a 16% rise in shoplifting across Scotland, despite overall crime falling to near-record lows. According to the Recorded Crime in Scotland bulletin for 2024–25, serious assault and attempted murder are now at their lowest level since 1977, while vandalism is down 73% from 2006–07. Justice secretary Angela Constance said Scotland 'remains a safe place to live' but acknowledged concerns about retail crime and rising sexual offences. 'We've invested £3m this year to support police in tackling retail crime,' she said. 'While violent crime continues to fall, every incident matters and we must stay vigilant.' As Scotland weighs the risks and rewards of facial recognition, both the government and police say public voices will be central to any future rollout. For retailers like Nathalie, the technology is already helping reclaim control. 'If you don't want your image stored,' she says bluntly, 'don't shoplift.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
