Dividends and bonuses: the firms paying out while taking in state Covid funds
Greencore, the sandwich supplier to grocers including M&S, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op, is the latest company to face criticism for offering bonuses to bosses while failing to repay government Covid support.
We take a look at some of the other UK firms that have handed bonuses to executives or payouts to shareholders despite refusing to refund taxpayers for support, including business rates relief and the furlough job retention scheme.
The retailer was a big beneficiary of taxpayer funds throughout the pandemic, having taken £40m in business rates relief and £11m in payments from furlough schemes in the UK and elsewhere in the year to September 2021. That was on top of £20m in business rates relief in 2020.
The move prompted a shareholder rebellion earlier this month, with more than half its investors failing to back a £550,000 bonus payment for the retailer’s chief executive, Carl Cowling, as a result.
Restructuring group Hilcotook a £25m dividend payment from the DIY chain Homebase in 2020, despite receiving business rates relief for the chain, which it bought for £1 in 2018. It also accepted at least £10.6m in government aid through furlough payments and grants for its Bathstore chain, which was forced to close for many weeks under government high street lockdowns.
The retailer JD Sports restarted dividend payments to shareholders in April 2021, after profits were shored up by bumper lockdown demand for trainers and hoodies. However, JD said it was not going to return either furlough money or business rates relief, which was worth £38m to company according to property advisers Altus Group.
Vertu Motors, the Gateshead-based car dealership group, relaunched its interim dividend in October despite receiving significant
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