B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher is the latest company to confirm it’ll repay millions of pounds in business rates relief.
The retailer today said it’ll pay back the £130million it saved from the government’s business rates holiday.
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It follows similar action from supermarkets including Asda, Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
B&M and Pets at Home have also confirmed they’ll hand back money to the Treasury.
Kingfisher said its “sales performance has been strong” throughout the pandemic, despite initially closing B&Q and Screwfix stores in March and not reopening them until late April.
The company said the business rates relief allowed its stores to “reduce costs and preserve cash” as well as protect jobs while shops were shut.
Which retailers are paying back business rates relief?
THE below supermarkets and retailers have said they’re returning the savings, listed in the order the announcements were made.
- Tesco – £585million
- Morrisons – £274million
- Sainsbury’s – £440million
- Aldi – £100million
- Asda – £340million
- B&M – £80million
- Pets at Home – £28.9million
- Lidl – £100million
- Kingfisher – £130million
In a statement today, Kingfisher said it “benefited from, and was thankful for, the financial support measures it received from the UK and Irish governments”.
The total sum amounts to £130million, including £1million from the Republic of Ireland and the rest from the UK government.
The announcement from Kingfisher takes the total returned to the Treasury to more than £2billion.
Tesco has already said it’ll return £585million, Sainsbury’s will hand back around £440million, and Morrisons will return £274million.
Aldi will pay back more than £100million, Asda will return £340million, and Lidl will pay back £100million.
B&M will return £80million and Pets at Home will hand back £28.9million.
You can see a full list of how much each retailer is returning in the list above.
The business rates relief was first announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak for retail, leisure and hospitality firms until March 2021.
The support was aimed at helping retailers which were unable to open – although data from real estate adviser Altus Group showed “essential” retailers also enjoyed savings of £3.03billion.
Data compiled last month for the PA news agency by real estate adviser Altus Group projected that the UK’s four largest grocers – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – and German rivals Aldi and Lidl would save around £1.87 billion as a result of the rates holiday.
Thierry Garnier, chief executive officer, said: “Government support through this crisis has been invaluable for many companies, including ours.
“We made significant investments to ensure the safety of our customers and teams, taking important steps to strengthen our balance sheet and limit the financial impact of COVID-19.”
“Given this resilience, and our commitment to support our communities, we believe that returning the UK and Irish business rates relief in full is the right thing to do.”
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It comes after shoppers flocked to the streets on “Wild Wednesday” as shops braced themselves for massive crowds after lockdown restrictions eased.
We’ve also rounded up all the shops opening up their doors today.
But in bleak news for our boozers, it’s been warned that thousands of pubs could close for good if the business rates relief isn’t extended.
Shoppers queue with social distancing measures as high street reopens in UK
