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The owners of Homebase are facing scrutiny over the financial support that the DIY chain took from taxpayers during the pandemic after seeing profits surge last year.
Sky News can reveal that Homebase, which came close to collapse in 2018, received close to £40m in government funding in 2020 in the form of business rates relief and payments made under the furlough scheme.
Sources said on Friday that the chain had not repaid that funding, despite seeing earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) before exceptional items soar 15-fold last year to more than £60m.
According to accounts filed last week at Companies House, Homebase “did not take the government loans available as part of the COVID-19 pandemic support measures but did access the Job Retention Scheme and business rates relief”.
The accounts show the business rates relief was worth more than £28m, while the furlough funding paid by the Treasury is recorded in the accounts as having been valued at £9.6m.
Homebase declined to comment despite repeated questions about its use and retention of government support, while Ian Topping, its chairman, did not respond to several requests for comment.
If Homebase has not repaid any of that taxpayer support, it will add the DIY chain to a list of retailers including Iceland and the Co-op Group which have refused to repay part or all of the funds they received from the government.
A number of other companies in the DIY sector, including Travis Perkins, announced that they would repay tens of millions of pounds of government funding.
One industry source said the fact that Homebase had not proactively announced its profits turnaround suggested that it was trying not to draw attention to the state support it had received.
Homebase is owned by Hilco Capital, a frequently…
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Source : skynews
