Since Tesco’s announcement on Wednesday that it would repay business rate relief to the government, major supermarket strings have followed that lead, pledging to do the same.
Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Morrisons have announced everything in the last 24 hours, returning the full value of the business rate relief the government has provided during the pandemic.
Tesco will pay £585 million, Morrisons will pay £230 million, Sainsbury’s will pay £410, and Aldi will pay more than £100 million to the government.
Aldi is the latest supermarket to announce decisions. Giles Hurley CEO said: To support the country. Continuous investments in colleagues and clients remain unchanged. ”
Sainsbury’s also revealed plans to repay after a year’s strong sales and profits amid the pandemic.
Chief Executive Simon Roberts said: “We owe a lot of costs to keep our colleagues and customers safe, but our food and other important retailers benefit from opening the whole thing.
“We believe that local restrictions will likely remain for some time, so we are now fair and that it is right to refrain from the business rate relief given at all Sainsbury stores. We are very aware that non-essential retailers and many other companies are being forced to close again in the second lockdown, and hope this will go some way to help them. It’s there.”
While repayment to the government is not required by law, supermarkets faced a lot of pressure thanks to strong deals they saw over the pandemic.
According to Sky News, Waitrose does not return business rate relief. Asda and Co Op have not decided on their decision.
