Lidl to refund business rates relief
Lidl has confirmed that it will return over £100 million worth of Covid-19 business rates relief to the UK Government and the devolved administrations.
The retailer said the relief was vital in the early stages of the pandemic when it needed to make significant unplanned investments in its operations, infrastructure and people to manage customer demand. In the past nine months, Lidl has recruited for 2,500 temporary roles and dramatically increased stock levels while investing in Covid-19 health and safety measures.
However, Lidl said it is now well placed to manage any further changes to the business as a result of the pandemic, and has therefore brought forward plans to return the relief.
Christian Härtnagel, chief executive of Lidl GB said: “The business rates relief that was provided to us, and the rest of the supermarket sector, came with a lot of responsibility that we took extremely seriously.
“We’ve been considering this for some time, and we are now in a position to confirm that we will be refunding this money as we believe it is the right thing to do. We feel confident that the business is well positioned to navigate and adapt to any further challenges brought by Covid-19.”
