Burberry becomes first non-essential retailer to return business rates relief

Burberry will return about £6m to the Treasury. It is the first so-called non-essential retailer to do so and the decision is likely to put pressure on peers to follow suit, The Mail on Sunday reported.

Many retailers that traded from stores during lockdown, such as the big grocers and B&Q owner Kingfisher, have already committed to repayment of the rates relief they received. 

However, other retailers that kept stores open in full or in part, such as Boots, the Co-op, Iceland, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, have not indicated so far that they will pay rates for the period. 

Burberry has also repaid a £300m taxpayer-funded loan a month early, which has been taken as a signal that the retailer is confident in its recovery prospects.

Burberry said that its action on the loan and rates was “the right thing to do”. 

The retailer’s flagship London store shoulders one of the highest rates bills in the country. Altogether its six branches and three outlet stores generate rates of about £6m.

Since November last year, £2.2bn has been been pledged for repayment by 14 retailers, including Burberry, according to rates specialist Altus Group.

Retailers hope that the business rates system will ultimately be fundamentally overhauled.