Tesco to return money meant to support struggling retailers

UK retailer Tesco has promised to pay back the £585 million it saved from a business rates holiday aimed at helping struggling retailers cope with the Covid-19 crisis. Tesco’s chairman, John Allan, said that the retailer was conscious of its responsibilities to society and that the Big 4 giant did not need the saving due to remaining open and trading strongly throughout the pandemic.

The decision comes as supermarkets face growing calls to hand back the savings which were aimed at helping retailers that were unable to open and struggling to make ends meet.

Data compiled last month 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.