Aldi joins list of supermarkets to repay rates relief

Aldi has become the latest supermarket chain to hand back business rates relief, the discounter confirmed on Thursday.

The UK’s fifth-largest grocer is to repay more than £100m to the UK government and devolved administrations, the German-owned supermarket chain said.

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, explained: “We have been able to remain open during lockdowns and despite the increased costs we have incurred during the pandemic, we believe returning the full value of our business rates relief is the right decision.

“Our continued investment for our colleagues and our customers will remain unchanged.”

Grocers stayed open throughout both lockdowns, and have seen sales surge throughout 2020. Online demand has also boomed.

J Sainsbury also announced on Thursday it would return £400m, while earlier this week, Tesco and Wm Morrison announced they would hand back £585m and £274m respectively. Tesco prompted criticism in October after it announced a dividend pay-out following a 29% hike in first-half profits.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a 12-month business rates holiday for retailers earlier this year, primarily to help stores forced to close because of lockdown measures.

In September, Aldi said it would open 100 new shops over the next two years as part of a £1.3bn investment in the UK market. Aldi reported operating profits of £291.2m in 2019, compared to £195.6m a year previously, while total sales surged 8% to hit £12.3bn.