Malcolm Walker is a man who does not like to say goodbye. When Baugur, the investment group, led a consortium to buy the Iceland supermarket chain three years ago, it hired Mr Walker to run the business he had founded in 1970 and left in 2001.

Mr Walker may be poised for another retail comeback, this time at Woolworths. The chain best known for pick 'n' mix sweets sacked Mr Walker almost 40 years ago for secretly starting up what was to become Iceland. Baugur wants the entrepreneur to run the chain if its bid for Woolworths' 800-plus stores succeeds.