Iceland to review use of bilingual signs in store
RETAILER Iceland said it is “reviewing its approach” to providing bilingual signage in stores across Wales.
Last week saw the frozen food giant come under fire for comments made by their director of corporate affairs Keith Hann about the Welsh language.
The frozen food giant issued an apology on Tuesday after the senior executive said in a now-deleted tweet that “Celts loathe all visitors” and on Wednesday confirmed that Mr Hann had been dismissed with immediate effect.
Now the Deeside-based company says a review is under way on bilingual signage at its store network across Wales.
An Iceland spokeswoman said: “We are currently reviewing our approach to providing Welsh signage in stores across Wales and updating this wherever possible.
“All new stores and those which are refitted have Welsh signage installed as standard, and this is also in place across all of our The Food Warehouse stores across Wales.”
The office of the Welsh Language
Commissioner has “reached out” to Iceland to offer support with making all their stores in Wales bilingual.
Aled Roberts, the Welsh Language Commissioner, said: “Research conducted by The Welsh Language Commissioner shows that customers in Wales want to see, hear and use the Welsh language in supermarkets in Wales.
“We have worked with a number of large supermarkets to develop their Welsh language services, supermarkets such as Coop and Lidl have responded brilliantly to develop a bilingual service.
“We would like to applaud their approach in working with us.
“We have contacted Iceland to inspire them to use Welsh, and encourage them to use bilingual signs, and we hope that they will respond to our request.”
Cymdeithas yr Iaith, which has been campaigning for bilingual signage at Iceland stores, told news website Nation. Cymru Iceland should show its commitment to the Welsh language.
In the article, David Williams, of Cymdeithas yr Iaith, said: “Keith Hann’s comments are insulting and unfortunate, but sacking someone doesn’t make up for the fact that Iceland’s Welsh provision for customers is currently very poor.
“What about making a real commitment to the language – how about providing services fully in Welsh in the near future?”
Back in 2018, Iceland had stated: “We do not currently provide signage in any language other than English in any of our stores in any part of the UK or Ireland.”