Richard Walker

Richard Walker was born in Chester in 1980. After graduating from Durham University in 2001 with a degree in geography, he travelled extensively across Russia, China, South East Asia and South America before qualifying as a chartered surveyor in London. In 2006 he moved to Poland to found Bywater Properties, of which he still remains Chairman. The company has a commercial property investment and development pipeline of over £250 million.

In 2012 he joined Iceland Foods, the supermarket established in 1970 by his parents. He worked full time as a shelf-stacker and cashier in Iceland stores in London for a year, before becoming a store manager and then moving into head office roles. After spells running Iceland’s International Division and The Food Warehouse, Iceland’s chain of larger stores, he took responsibility for the group’s sustainability initiatives in 2017 and became managing director of Iceland Foods in 2018.

Richard is an honorary fellow of University College London, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a member of the DEFRA Council for Sustainable Business, a Sustainable Business Advisor for HRH The Prince of Wales, an Ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts and a trustee of several leading environmental charities. He has written opinion pieces on business, politics and sustainability for many of the UK’s national newspapers, and is a regular panellist BBC’s Question Time.