Frozen foods retailer Iceland is to launch its new ad campaign with an Iceland customer as its star, after reporting another record year this week.

Iceland has picked Ellie Taylor, a mum of two from Bristol, who shops in its Nailsea store, to front its autumn ad campaign. She will also write blogs for the retailer, and be involved in product development and other in-store promotions.

The retailer ran an X Factor-style campaign with live auditions to find a new face after taking the decision not to use celebrities any more.

The online and in-store campaign was judged by its previous celebrity face Coleen Nolan, plus the Iceland team. Some of the runners-up may also be used alongside Taylor.

Iceland reported EBITDA up 11.2% to £184.2m, and pre-tax profit up 19.4% to £135.4m. Sales were up 10.4% to £3.3bn and like-for-likes were up 4.3% in the year to March 26. It opened 74 new shops in the year, including 51 former Woolworths sites.

Chief executive Malcolm Walker said the second half of last year slowed as its competitors copied its £1 pricing strategy but “it’s picked up again this year”.

He said it is difficult to predict the rest of this year because of “budget cuts and tax rises” but added “the business is in good shape”.

Some analysts expect Walker to try to buy out its Icelandic shareholders, but he said there are no plans to make changes to its shareholding.

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