The company in charge of Swindon warehouses that supply Iceland supermarkets have revealed how they’re keeping shelves stocked during strike action over the festive period.

More than 140 staff at the Penzance Drive and Symmetry Park sites managed by GXO on the retailer’s behalf walked out for three days in a dispute over pay and will do so again next week.

Union Unite has timed the industrial action in an attempt to disrupt the supply chain to stores around the south west as people prepare to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

But GXO and Iceland are confident that they have managed to adapt to this mass walkout and continued to deliver all the ambient, chilled, and frozen goods that are required.

Martin Atkinson is the managing director for the grocery department at GXO. He said: “Our Iceland distribution network remains operational, and our deliveries remain unaffected.

“We have supplied Iceland stores in advance using our network and everything scheduled for delivery from our Swindon sites is on track.

“No deliveries have been cancelled.

“As a result of these steps, Iceland stores are well stocked, and we’ll continue to work with Iceland to maintain the deliveries they need so that Iceland customers will be unaffected by this action.”

GXO operates four other depots in the region, where no strike action is taking place, so goods have been moved to those locations to maintain regular deliveries to Iceland stores.

The company is currently on track with its daily delivery objectives and has supplied most of the volume needed for the coming days in advance of the strike, which started on Thursday, December 14.

The first staff walkout ends on Saturday, December 17 and another will be carried out between Wednesday, December 27, and Saturday, December 30.

Unite members among the workforce have rejected a two-year pay deal offered by their bosses and instead opted for industrial action.

The union claims that the deal was below inflation and that GXO has refused to offer a fair pay rise to the workers.

The Adver understands that GXO’s current offer involves a six per cent pay increase from March 1, 2023, to February 28, 2024, which would be followed by a further 5.3 per cent pay rise in year two.

The company has also put forward a newer offer that proposes bringing the year two pay award forward from March 1, 2024, to January 1, and adding a 50 per cent increase to the £1 hourly incentive payments of staff who work in the freezer section.