How retailers are giving prisoners a second chance

Weetos, Coca-Cola, PG Tips. The brands adorning the shelves at Iceland Oakwood are exactly what you would expect from any branch. But this is no normal Iceland store. It’s operated and staffed entirely by serving prisoners.

Opened in April 2025, the store is one of a number of retail and hospitality concessions run by prison operator G4S at HMP Oakwood, a category C prison just outside Wolverhampton, as part of its Cherry Blossom ‘marketplace’ trial.

The store serves two purposes. One is to reward the prison population, who can earn ‘credit’ to buy groceries by working there.

The second is to train up the prisoners manning the store. Staff run Oakwood – fitted out with Iceland branding, uniforms, tills and shelves – just like a regular supermarket.

“Cherry Blossom will provide prisoners with valuable retail experience, equipping them with the skills and confidence to rebuild their lives,” says Iceland director of rehabilitation Paul Cowley.

Eventually, participants could end up on Iceland’s Second Chance recruitment programme, which recruits prison leavers.

The scheme is a sign of a wider movement. A growing number of food and drink businesses – from Cook to Booths, Co-op and JLP – are looking to help the UK’s prison leavers into work through dedicated initiatives.

So, what’s driving the new impetus among food and drink companies to work with prisoners? Who’s doing what? What are the challenges and opportunities for businesses? And could more be done to encourage others to get on board?

Within the food industry, Iceland’s Second Chance is arguably the most recognised scheme for prison leavers. It has offered more than 350 roles in Iceland and Food Warehouse stores since its launch in 2022. Cowley – who has spent time in prison himself – hopes to eventually increase that number to more than 3,000.

However, those in the rehabilitation sector all credit one name with “spearheading” the wider movement to employ ex-offenders: James Timpson. As MD of Timpson – a post he held until last year – he led the way in challenging preconceived ideas.

“Timpson paved the way for employers to start thinking a little bit differently about this stuff,” says Richard Rowley. He’s head of strategic partnerships at charity Working Chance, which works with businesses to help female prison leavers find employment.

Indeed, Timpson has been employing prison leavers through its Timpson Foundation since 2002. Today, 12% of its workforce is made up of former prisoners.

James Timpson himself has also been instrumental in encouraging closer links between the Ministry of Justice and businesses. Most crucially, in 2021, he chaired the establishment of Employment Advisory Boards in 90 UK prisons.

Now he’s working under Keir Starmer’s Labour government as minister of state for prisons, parole and probation – a role he assumed in July – to further increase momentum.

That’s a reflection of government priorities in this area. The MOJ has named closer ties with business as a “key part” of its strategy to cut crime and tackle Britain’s overcrowded prisons.

And the situation is nearing breaking point. The UK has just 1,144 places left across its male and female prisons before it reaches operational capacity, according to the MOJ’s latest prison population statistics for April.

As a shorter-term solution, Labour is looking to release hundreds of lower risk prisoners early, reform sentencing and invest £4.7bn into building new prisons. It has acknowledged, however, that cutting the rate of reoffending is a crucial part of any long-term solution.

According to the MOJ’s own statistics, a person is half as likely to reoffend if they find a role within six weeks of being released. So encouraging businesses to open their doors to prisoners is critical.

That greater push from government is no doubt one reason why food businesses are increasingly taking up the opportunity. At the same time, businesses are also waking up to the benefits of widening their talent pools, says Lorna Jones. She’s social mobility manager at the Co-op Group, which is in the early stages of establishing its own programme focused on helping female prisoners into work.

Employing prison leavers is not only a CSR win, but the strategy can also plug the labour shortages that have gripped the sector since the pandemic.

Frozen retailer Cook can testify to the benefits from the business side. Its Raw Talent Scheme – often cited as one of the most successful programmes of its kind – marked its 10-year anniversary in October 2024.

Under the initiative, Cook partners with a number of local charities to support “people into work who would otherwise struggle to find a job”.

That definition includes prison leavers, but also those who have battled homelessness, addiction and mental illness. Cook has offered roles to nearly 250 people at its Sittingbourne head office and factory sites since the programme launched.

Rosie Brown, co-CEO of Cook Foods, believes grocery, retail and hospitality chains can make particularly good employers for prison leavers.

“They’ve often got national reach,” she says. “Turnover and growth in the sector mean there are often jobs available with very well-established career pathways.”

National chains certainly seem to be getting on board. Similar schemes are on offer at Greggs, whose Fresh Start programme has found permanent roles for 360 prison leavers, and Pret a Manger, which has run its Rising Stars initiative since 2008.

However, it’s not just about working with prisoners once they are released. Like Iceland, many companies also work with serving prisoners, to help prepare them for life on the outside.

In 2021, northern supermarket chain Booths began a partnership with Kirkham Prison, a category D institution in Lancashire, to provide employment for release on temporary licence (ROTL).

Booths offers candidates that are eligible for ROTL – low-risk prisoners with less than two years left on their sentence – part and full-time roles in stores, logistics and manufacturing. Serving prisoners then return to Kirkham after their shift. The supermarket also offers training and development to prisoners who are preparing to finish their sentence.

The John Lewis Partnership runs a similar programme at its Magna Park distribution centre in conjunction with its procurement partner Guidant Global. It’s worked with 32 ROTL prisoners so far – and those who live locally are offered a role once they are released.

A number of other big names, including Greggs, Wagamama, Greene King and Co-op, have all delivered practical employment sessions inside prisons. Those efforts are part of the New Futures Network, a careers initiative launched by the HM Prison & Probation Service in 2018.

Other companies are supporting the movement in other ways. Boots, Co-op and Asda, for example, are among those to have signed up to the Ban the Box campaign – which calls for the removal of the requirement for candidates to disclose criminal convictions on a job application.

Involvement isn’t always formal. Multiple grocery figures hold voluntary roles as chairs of different employment groups. For example, Co-op’s Jones chairs the Employment Advisory Board at HMP Styal in Cheshire, while Cook’s Brown took over as chair of the Employment Advisory Boards earlier this year.

Whatever their role, the companies involved believe employing prison leavers is a win-win for businesses and society.

“From a social responsibility perspective, recruiting offenders greatly reduces the cycle of reoffending and has a positive generational impact on families,” says Booths executive chairman Edwin Booth, who was inspired to launch’s Booths’ ROTL scheme while serving as high sheriff of Lancashire in 2021.

“At the same time, there are a lot of highly skilled people in our prisons, from retail to manufacturing, construction and many other trades. It makes business and societal sense to give people a second chance.”

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He says Booths now prefers to employ ROTL candidates over agency workers in its manufacturing and logistics network because they are more reliable.

This recognition is “absolutely huge” for someone trying to rebuild their life, says Alex Fishwick, store assistant at Booths. He initially struggled to find work after his stint in prison, and long-term battles with addiction, before finding a role with Booths in 2021.

“When you’ve had a life of addiction and a continuous cycle of institutions such as rehabs, prisons and psychiatric units, you begin to believe that you’re not capable, worthy or desirable to employers,” Fishwick tells The Grocer. “It felt like I had been accepted into civilised society.”

Pride, money, friends, structure, discipline, self-esteem and acceptance are just some of the benefits a “consistent, reliable job” has brought to his life, Fishwick says. He has since completed a PhD in criminology and is now a part-time lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire alongside his work in store.

“You are seen for you and that lit a spark in me,” he says. “I felt extremely grateful and motivated to make it work.”

That desire for a second chance is what often makes people with troubled pasts such great candidates, says Roisin Currie, Greggs CEO and voluntary chair of industry group Employers Forum For Reducing Reoffending.

“The passion and energy for work that comes from people who are given an opportunity to kick-start their careers, or to turn their lives around, is clear for all to see,” Currie says. She points out 16 Greggs Fresh Start recruits have climbed the ranks to become store managers.

Meanwhile, Pret a Manager highlights its success in retention. More than half of the 200 prison leavers it has recruited since 2008 are still with the business today.

“There’s a huge opportunity to unlock the potential in people who are often overlooked,” says Nina Allard, global head of the Pret Foundation. “From a pure business perspective, this allows us to tap into a wider talent pool when we’re looking to hire, and we also tend to see higher retention rates among these employees.”

These positive experiences are far from isolated. According to the MOJ’s own surveys, 90% of companies who employ former prisoners say they are “reliable and trustworthy employees”.

Resource and investment

On the flip side, there are plenty of challenges that make it can difficult for companies to establish their own programmes.

The main issue is one of resource. “There is no denying it can be resource-intensive at first,” says Pret’s Allard. Building schemes from scratch requires a lot of “upfront work” to adjust recruitment or onboarding processes. It also requires investment – at a time when businesses face mounting employment costs from hikes in National Insurance and inflation.

And to succeed in the long term, businesses need to offer “wraparound support” tailored to individuals with differing needs and requirements, points out Rowley.

That involves both pastoral support, but also practical help such as funding a person’s travel to work. “It‘s taking that wider perspective of ‘how are going to keep people?’” Rowley stresses.

That point is backed up by Fishwick, who highlights some people will be leaving prison after serving many years.

“To some, this is a brand-new social world, and adjustments may fluctuate considerably between prisoners. There needs to be understanding of how significant this change may be.”

Then there are the more practical considerations for individual circumstances. People on ROTL must adhere to strict rules about when they must be back at prison, and where they can go, which must also be respected. “It is important ROTL employees are not treated any differently than anybody else,” Fishwick adds.

Plus, any programme will require significant buy-in at all levels of the business. There can also be some concerns internally, as well as externally, about the perceived risks of recruiting prison leavers, Cook’s Brown highlights.

As such, Working Chance’s Rowley stresses the need to get the backing of hiring managers and store teams, who will working directly with new recruits.

The first part – getting a scheme off the ground – can be toughest. So testifies Co-op, which is in the early stages of establishing its own programme focused on helping female prisoners into work. “Often the biggest barrier can be knowing where to start,” says Jones.

Luckily, she says, there is plenty of help available on that front. Working Chance has published its own 60-page guide detailing everything companies need to know to start their own scheme.

Iceland has also promised to publish its own blueprint. Cowley, along with executive chairman Richard Walker, have met with Timpson and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood to discuss how this could be done.The retailer is also playing a leading role in talks to form a dedicated coalition of food and drink businesses to create more opportunities in the grocery supply chain.

More collaboration has also been the focus of Timpson’s early policy moves since taking on the prisons beat. In January, he announced the creation of new regional employment advisory councils.

Building on the success of the Employment Advisory Boards, the aim is to bring together the various heads of different employment advisory boards, along with representatives from Department of Work & Pensions and local probation services to ensure prison leavers are better supported in the community. For example, it will help to tailor the training and skills provided in prisons to better suit roles in local industries.

Brown thinks the government could go further and “incentivise” companies to launch their own programmes. This could, for example, involve allowing businesses to put apprenticeship levy funds towards their schemes or National Insurance cuts during the first year of a person’s employment.

Cook fully self-funds its Raw Talent Scheme with a “significant six-figure sum” every year. Nevertheless, Brown says, the long-term payback far surpasses any short-term financial gain.

“My dream is that every large employer has a programme to support people with barriers to employment back to work.”

That may just be a realistic dream. Because for Working Chance’s Rowley, the increased willingness from employers to get involved comes back to a basic business need. “Employers are still in a position where they just want to hire the best people.”

And those people might just come from an unexpected place.