A HIGH-profile retail businessman stressed the importance of e-commerce at a lecture held in Bolton's Reebok Stadium.

Malcolm C Walker CBE, chairman and chief executive of Iceland Group plc, was the guest speaker at last night's 11th annual Bolton Business Lecture.

He told delegates how he has embraced Internet technology and used it to further the company's growth.

The retail giant had rebranded its stores Iceland.co.uk, to bring e-commerce and traditional shopping together, he said.

Before an audience of 150 delegates from the local authority and Bolton businesses, Mr Walker also spoke of his firm's environmental policy.

In an age when issues of BSE and genetically modified food have become of concern to the British public, Mr Walker said he hoped to see more firms following his company's lead in pushing organic and free range products.

He wrapped up the lecture with a question and answer session in which he spoke about his recruitment policy, ethical stance and retail trends.

Yorkshire-born Mr Walker started his career at Woolworths which he joined as a trainee manager when he was 17-years-old.

He invested £60 in premises in Oswestry in November, 1970 -- a shop which later became the first Iceland.

The lecture's organisers, Bolton Business Ventures, said the presence of Mr Walker was a coup.

The businessman rarely accepts speaking engagements outside of the Iceland group.