Tesco & Boots to help distribute Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
Tesco and Boots are due to help the government distribute the new Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine across the UK.
The UK’s largest supermarket Tesco has offered the help of its country-spanning distribution company Best Food Logistics to aid the roll out of the vital COVID-19 vaccine as cases continue to skyrocket and millions more face new lockdown restrictions.
Unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which needs to be stored at -70C, the recently approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine can survive at warmer temperatures meaning it can safely be transported in Tesco’s refrigerated food trucks.
Meanwhile Boots is preparing to open three COVID-19 vaccination sites in Halifax, Huddersfield and Gloucester in conjunction with local GP-run clinical commissioning groups, with plans to open more in the coming weeks.
“Boots has extensive knowledge and experience of mass vaccination having completed over a million flu vaccinations last year, and we have developed a model for Covid-19 vaccination that is aligned with our exceptional safety, clinical and operational standards,” a spokesperson told PA Media.
“We stand ready to do much more and our national network of pharmacy expertise is prepped to support the NHS and the government to accelerate the rollout of the vaccine.”
According to prime minister Boris Johnson there should be 540 GP vaccination sites and 101 hospital sites set up by today to administer both iterations of the vaccine.
Around 1 million people have already received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, though the follow up dose will now be administered within 12 weeks, rather than the 21 days originally planned.
It comes as the UK’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Witty warned that vaccine shortages were a “reality that cannot be wished away”.
“We have to ensure that we maximise the number of eligible people who receive the vaccine,” he said in a joint statement.
“Currently the main barrier to this is vaccine availability, a global issue, and this will remain the case for several months and, importantly, through the critical winter period.”
COVID-19 cases are continuing to skyrocket across the UK, seeing just under 55,000 new cases reported yesterday alone, making the rapid roll-out of the vaccine even more important.
Primark warns of £220m loss as Tier 4 forces store closures
Primark has warned that Tier 4 restrictions – which enforce non-essential retailers to close – will result in an additional loss of £220 million in sales as more stores are forced to shut throughout the country. The fast fashion retailer’s owner AB Foods said it expected to lose £650 million in sales in the year to September, up from the £430 million it had announced on December 4. The warning came after the government said major cities including Manchester and Birmingham must join London and the south-east of England in closing non-essential shops. Primark said 253 of its stores would now be temporarily closed from January 1. The government announced that all of the north-east of England, Greater Manchester, large parts of the Midlands and the south-west would fall under the strictest Tier 4 restrictions from Thursday morning. All of mainland Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are already under the tightest restrictions which involve the closure of hospitality and non-essential retail. The restrictions have been implemented following the spread of the new variant of Covid-19. Primark is set to receive a heavier hit from the store closures than rivals as it does not offer an online channel. When Primark reopened in England last month after a month-long high street lockdown, the group said it saw “phenomenal” sales growth. Eleven stores had stayed open overnight, resulting in a 40-hour trading marathon.
Mike Ashley's Frasers Group snaps up fashion retailer Psyche
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has acquired fashion retailer Psyche after a buyout deal was agreed. Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct, House of Fraser, and Flannels, has bought out the retailer’s stores as well as its online operations. Psyche owner Steve Cochrane, who has owned the business for around 38 years, will continue to run it after the takeover. Cochrane said the deal would secure the future of the store, as well as its online operations and its 58 workers by joining Frasers Group. “After 38 years as an independent fashion retailer we have never seen such uncertainty surrounding the pandemic with local lockdowns, it is great to have the security and backing of one of the strongest UK retailers to continue employing our talented staff and serve our loyal customers,” he said. “Merging with Frasers Group will allow us to grow and expand. It will give us economies of scale and efficiencies by being part of a large plc.” The value of the deal, which includes the Linthorpe Road building which was formerly Uptons, has not been disclosed. It has already seen the company’s registered address change from Middlesbrough to Frasers’ headquarters in Shirebrook. Psyche’s 40,000sq ft luxury fashion boutique in Middlesbrough hosts more than 200 high-end brands for men, women and children although is currently closed due the Tier 4 restrictions. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues to develop and build on the great business we have built over the past 38 years,” Cochrane said.
Retailers cut almost 177,000 jobs in 2020
The turmoil on the high street saw 176,718 jobs lost across retailers during 2020, according to new figures showing the dramatic impact of the pandemic. Data from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has shown about 3400 jobs within the retail sector vanished each week during the year. Experts from the organisation have warned that even more jobs could go in 2021 as debt burdens, changes to legislation and continued online growth are set to weigh further on high street stores. The CRR said the 176,718 jobs were lost across high streets, main shopping destinations, towns and villages, as well as small shopping parades and isolated stores across the UK. Of that total, it said 71,811 jobs were lost through retailers falling into administration. Major retail firms including Debenhams, Philip Day’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group and Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group slashed hundreds of jobs after tumbling into administration during the year. CRR’s data also showed that a further 11,986 jobs were lost through CVAs deals, a controversial insolvency procedure used to close loss-making stores and secure rent cuts. River Island, Clarks and New Look are among retailers to launch CVAs in 2020 to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The CRR added that a further 92,921 jobs were lost through “rationalisation” as part of cost-cutting or restructuring programmes by large retailers, or small shops simply shutting for good, which was up 18.3 per cent on 2019. The total number of overall retail jobs lost in 2020 was up by almost a quarter on the 143,128 overall jobs lost during 2019. CRR director Professor Joshua Bamfield warned up to 200,000 jobs could vanish in 2021. “Our forecast is based upon a number of factors such as the cumulative effects of months of closure and its impact upon cash flow and rent arrears that will be payable when the moratorium ends,” he said. “Whilst the longer-term effects of the greater use by shoppers of all kinds of online retailing is likely to be hugely damaging for physical stores.” According to real estate advisory firm Altus Group, 436,000 business premises in England are now closed under Tier 3 and Tier 4 restrictions, including 310,504 non-essential shops, 37,581 pubs and 27,028 restaurants. With the current one-year business rates holiday set to end in March, Altus Group head of property Robert Hayton said: “It is crucial that government ensures future support is targeted to where it is needed, including funding the Valuation Office so it can expedite settlement of the tens of thousands of formal challenges against business rates assessments that must now be reduced to reflect the impact of Covid before bills are sent out.”
Aldi hails record Christmas sales
Aldi has hailed record sales during the key Christmas period that was bolstered by a spike in demand for premium products. In the four weeks to December 24, the German discount grocer said UK sales rose by 10.6 per cent compared with the same trading period a year ago. Aldi said it was boosted by increased demand for premium products and online, highlighting a 75 per cent sales increase for its online wine and Specialbuy businesses. The update makes it the first Christmas trading announcement by a UK supermarket, with rival Morrisons set to unveil its set of figures tomorrow. Aldi said it was also buoyed by its expanded delivery business, with thousands of customers using its click-and-collect service and on-demand collaboration with Deliveroo. In addition, Christmas trading was boosted by strong demand for Aldi’s Specially Selected range, as well as its beers, wine and spirits – with the supermarket selling 4.5m bottles of champagne, sparkling wine and prosecco. The news comes shortly after Aldi revealed it would spend an additional £3.5 billion a year with British suppliers by 2025 as part of its expansion plans. The German supermarket chain, which currently has over 900 stores in the UK, also plans to open on average a new store every week over the coming years as it targets 1200 stores by 2025. “We had a record Christmas with unprecedented demand for our award-winning products as customers pushed the boat out more than ever before,” Aldi UK chief executive Giles Hurley said. “We are expecting significant sales growth this year as we open new stores and bring Aldi to more locations across the UK. “With the vast majority of our grocery products now coming from British suppliers, our growth will lead to additional jobs and investment in our UK supply chain.”
M&S expands athleisure range to kidswear and menswear
Marks & Spencer has expanded its activewear range for children and men as Brits turn to athleisure during the Covid-19 pandemic. M&S is adding kidswear and menswear to its Goodmove range – launched at the start of 2020 – later this month. The retailer said sportswear and casual clothing has been in demand since the pandemic began when people were forced to work from home, but its Goodmove range was launched prior to Covid-19. M&S said 52 per cent of its customers reported wearing activewear more as everyday clothing last year. Between March and September, activewear sales on M&S.com were up by 200 per cent. “2020 has cemented activewear as a staple in wardrobes,” M&S womenswear and kidswear director Jill Stanton said. “By expanding Goodmove into men’s and kids we want to continue to drive growth through a stylish and relevant product offer.” The retailer said keeping healthy and fit would remain a priority among its customers next year and 77 per cent want to be more active in 2021. On Monday night, Boris Johnson said all non-essential retailers will be forced to shut their stores across England following a third national lockdown – which means people are likely to stay at home until mid-February.
Next online sales compensate for lost trading in stores over Christmas
Next sales have dropped by 1.1 per cent year-on-year in the nine weeks to December 26, which were “much better” than expected considering the impact of Covid-19 restrictions over the Christmas trading period. The fashion retailer said online sales “compensated for almost all those lost in retail stores”. It expects a 14 per cent loss in full-price retail sales this month due to the lockdown closure of 90 per cent of its stores. Online sales in the UK were up 36 per cent during the period, while retail sales declined by 43 per cent compared to last year. Next has upped its full-year profit guidance again after delivering “much better” sales over the Christmas period than expected. The retailer said its full-year pre-tax profit was now expected to be £370 million, up from the £365 million forecast in October. However, stripping out a £40 million provision against retail properties and adding in an extra week, it expects pre-tax profit for the 53 weeks to be £342 million. Based on the assumption that it will recoup 50 per cent of lost retail sales online, Next now expects sales for the full year to January 2021 to be down 16 per cent, compared with a previous forecast of 17 per cent. For the 2021/22 year ahead, Next expects to report a pre-tax profit of £670 million, based on the assumption that there will be some disruption in the first half and a recovery in the second. Next will announce its results for the full year ending January 2021 on April 1.
JD Sports continues buying spree with Wellgosh takeover
JD Sports has reportedly acquired independent menswear retailer Wellgosh for an undisclosed sum. Pete Turner founded the Leicester-based business around 30 years ago, when it was based in a small store in Leicester’s Silver Arcade. Wellgosh relocated to larger premises in the main shopping area when the arcade shut down in 1998. The family-run business shut down stores during lockdown and has encouraged customers to shop from online. Wellgosh is the latest brand to be added to JD Sports’ portfolio, Drapers reported. JD Sports also added US footwear retailer Shoe Palace to its stable of retail brands in December after completing a takeover deal worth $325 million (£240 million). The UK sportswear retailer confirmed that its existing wholly-owned intermediate holding company in the US, Genesis Holdings, acquired 100 per cent of both the issued shares in the Shoe Palace Corporation and the members’ interests in Nice Kicks. The British retail giant added that its cash consideration was being funded from its cash resources and existing bank facilities.
M&S to buy Jaeger from Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group this week
Marks & Spencer is reportedly close to signing a deal to purchase Jaeger from administrators to Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) Group. Jaeger, which is owned by Philip Day’s clothing empire, was forced to appoint administrators last November after the Covid-19 pandemic hammered its business. M&S could sign an agreement to acquire Jaeger as soon as this week, Sky News reported. EWM said a transaction with M&S was “imminent” but added that many of the group’s former assets were less likely to be salvaged. EWM also owned Peacocks, Austin Reed and Jacques Vert, none of which are currently on M&S’s radar. M&S’s deal is expected to involve the acquisition of Jaeger’s brand and stock, but not its standalone stores which remained in place following the closure of 13 shops in November. Last year, M&S placed a bid to acquire the UK arm of Victoria’s Secret but lost out to rival Next. If completed, the takeover by M&S will mark another chapter for Jaeger. FRP Advisory is handling the administration process.
Greggs warns profits will not recover until at least 2022
Greggs has forecast a swing to a full-year loss and warned profits will not recover until at least 2022 as the Covid pandemic hammers sales. The high street bakery chain – which recently axed 820 jobs – said like-for-like sales fell by nearly a fifth over its fourth quarter to January 2, running at 81 per cent of year-earlier levels. Meanwhile in its third quarter sales were down as much as 29 per cent year-on-year. Greggs said total sales for the year slumped by nearly a third – 31 per cent – to £811 million. The bakery chain said it was braced for annual pre-tax losses of up to £15 million, against profits of £108.3 million the previous year, although it said the hit was contained thanks to government support. It said Covid-19 restrictions, which this week has made the whole of the UK under lockdown for the first time since last spring, will keep profits under pressure for another year at least. “The significant uncertainty over the duration of social restrictions, along with the impact of higher unemployment levels, makes it difficult to predict performance,” Greggs said. “However, we do not expect that profits will return to pre-Covid levels until 2022 at the earliest.” Despite the update, shares in Greggs lifted eight per cent as the expected losses were lower than feared and thanks to improving sales. Greggs also sought to shore up trade by launching a delivery tie-up with Just Eat, which it said accounted for 5.5 per cent of fourth quarter sales. It said 600 of its shops now provide delivery services to catchments served by Just Eat and this is expected to increase to around 800 shops in 2021. The high street chain also confirmed it still hopes to open around 100 new stores, on a net basis, over the year ahead. “With customers spending more time at home we have successfully developed our partnership with Just Eat to offer delivery services and have also seen strong sales through our longstanding partnership with Iceland, offering our products for home baking,” chief executive Roger Whiteside said. “We have resumed opening new shops where we see good opportunities, with those sites accessed by car performing particularly well.”
Online grocery sales doubled in December in biggest Christmas for supermarkets ever
Online grocery sales doubled in December helping drive the most lucrative Christmas ever for the UK’s supermarkets.
During the four weeks to December 26, online grocery sales accounted for 12.5 per cent of the UK’s total £12 billion supermarket spend, representing £1.3 billion according to the latest data from Nielsen.
This was double the 6.7 per cent share of total sales online grocery achieved in the same period a year earlier, marking the biggest December on record.
According to Nielsen, just over 30 per cent of UK households did their Christmas grocery shopping online this year, seeing the number rise from 5.7 million households in 2019 to 8.5 million.
While this led to a 10 per cent drop in store visits, average spend per visit rose from £17 in 2019 to £20, marking the biggest ever spend per visit during the Christmas period.
“2020 marks the first Christmas where online shopping played a significant role in consumers’ shopping behaviours, with 85% of the incremental sales in food and drink made online in the last four weeks ending 26th December,” Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight Mike Watkins said.
“Although overall grocery growth was a little lower than in November, this takes into account the many challenges consumers faced around restrictions and cancelled Christmas plans.”
Lidl reportedly saw the highest level of growth over the period seeing sales jump 20.9 per cent, while Morrisons led the Big 4 retailers seeing sales grow 9.2 per cent.
B&M Christmas revenue grows 26% as it welcomes 16 new stores
B&M has recorded strong growth in revenues for the festive period thanks to the increased number of customers shopping for discounts during Christmas. Group revenue rose 22.5 per cent in the 13 week period to December 26, with its UK stores generating revenue growth of 26.6 per cent. On a like-for-like basis, UK sales jumped 21.1 per cent, with the retailer opening 16 new stores during the quarter. B&M said it plans to open 18 more stores during the fourth quarter, bringing the total to 45 gross for the full year, offset by 10 closures. Meanwhile, B&M’s value convenience store chain Heron Foods also witnessed “solid” like-for-like sales growth for the quarter, opening two new stores during the same period. The retailer’s French fascias Babou and B&M France recorded a slight drop in revenues of 1.4 per cent due to a four week lockdown which ended November 28. B&M narrowed its full year profit guidance to be between £540 million and £570 million, after the repayment of £80 million in business rates relief. “We are awarding some 30,000 store and distribution colleagues an extra week’s wages in recognition of their considerable efforts,” B&M chief executive Simon Arora said. “The safety and wellbeing of our customers and colleagues has remained our priority during these unprecedented times, whilst we have worked hard to provide customers with the everyday essentials they need. “Notwithstanding our status as an essential retailer, with lockdown restrictions in the UK having tightened there remain uncertainties ahead. “With our combination of exceptional value and convenient out of town locations, we are confident that our business model will prove highly relevant to the needs of customers in 2021.”
Virtual shopping is set to be the next major trend in retail
As anyone who has ever dared to monitor their screen time will know, the average UK adult now spends an average of 3 hours and 23 minutes on their phone every day, equating to roughly 50 days every year.
As the number of minutes spent staring at the black mirror increases, the hundreds of millions spent by businesses to try and cash in on this phenomenon rises in tandem.
For retailers this has almost exclusively involved finding ways to shrink their websites to fit on smaller screens. Yet, this tactic has completely overlooked the most significant opportunity smartphone culture presents.
“What is the one thing we do on our phones more than anything? It’s WhatsApp, it’s WeChat, it’s FaceTime, the ways in which we communicate,” Hero’s founder Adam Levene told Charged.
Data shows that around two thirds of screen time is spent on social media, meaning that even the most popular retail apps are competing in an intensely crowded space for a portion of just a third of our time.
Hero, which describes itself as a ‘virtual shopping’ company, believes it has found a way to tap into this huge latent potential, and it couldn’t be simpler.
“We quickly discovered a lot of the untapped potential of the millions of retail associates who work on the shop floor, they all have an iPhone in hand,” Levene continued.
“And so we said let’s connect all of these online shoppers that need help, advice and inspiration as they shop, not with a customer service agent, not with a bot, but with a real life human in the store nearest to them.”
Levene, who launched the company in 2015 before bringing it to market two years later, had his lightbulb moment while waiting at an airport in South America.
After trying to see if an item was in stock in his local bookstore Levene was put on hold, a nightmare many of us continue to face regularly on retail customer service lines to this day.
“It just didn’t feel like a particularly 21st century experience,” he said.
“I thought if I could just fire off a text message to someone in the store and say – ‘hey do you have this book? Could you put it aside or let me check out online?’
“That is the 21st century friendly way of buying something, I’ve been trying to bring that to retail.”
Retail it seems was more than ready for this 21st century friendly way of buying things, as were consumers.
This year alone Hero has increased its customer base more than five-fold, tripled its number of staff and signed a partnership with Shopify, which runs the ecommerce platforms for nearly 1 million retailers.
Its rapid expansion has been so easy because most of the framework needed to implement Hero’s technology is already largely in place at most retailers, whether they know it or not.
As Levene pointed out “utilising store associates to sell online is a very simple idea, but one that involves internal behavioural change inside a retailer.”
Store associates, mid-day on a weekday, are already filling up the downtime in store by staring at their phone screens. Why not connect them with online shoppers and enable them to make some sales while they’re doing it?
All stores need to do is download some Java script to integrate Hero into their platform, while staff just need to download an app which will seem instantly familiar to anyone who regularly uses WhatsApp, according to the company.
Key to this transition, is ensuring staff are properly attributed for their sales, providing a genuine financial incentive for them to link with customers. As if that wasn’t enough to win over store associates, Hero has also enabled 85 per cent of its partners to keep some if not all of its staff during lockdown.
“Something we really conquered in the early days was attribution,” Levene explained.
“We wanted to help the store associates to get the credit for the sales they were making online, they’ve never been in that position before. And so the moment they have a call or answer a query with an online shopper and that leads to a sale, they get the credit for it.
“If they’re on commission like at Harmonix, then suddenly they can now earn commission online. If they’re a non-commission retailer and they have a store target, online sales can count towards their in-store targets, it’s a real win-win for associates”.
The “death of the high street” has been touted since the 1970s, but physical stores have survived because shoppers still want that human connection.
One thing that has become desperately apparent throughout 2020 is that the technology exists to grant us a more human connection without having to be physically face to face.
With both retailers and the public embracing video communication technology like never before and ecommerce becoming an increasingly vital part of retail, the stars seemed to have aligned for Levene’s concept to make its impact on the industry.
As he concluded: “Whether you have stores or not, that human connection is going to be everything going forward and is the differentiator for every retail brand that’s name isn’t Amazon.”
McAuthurGlen appoints new leasing managing director
McArthurGlen has announced the promotion of Nick Brady to group managing director of leasing, succeeding Adrian Nelson who left the designer outlet operator last year. In this role, Brady will be responsible for overseeing all brand acquisition, asset management and leasing strategy for the firm’s 25 outlet centres in 10 countries across Europe – including the UK – and in Canada. With over 13 years’ experience at McArthurGlen, Brady has worked with many of the firm’s brand partners to develop their outlet businesses into established, high-performing retail channels. Brady will report to McArthurGlen’s co-chief executive Susie McCabe and work in close partnership with the firm’s executive team. “The deep knowledge, passion and expertise that Nick has brought to McArthurGlen over the past 13 years has played a major role in our growth to becoming Europe’s leading designer outlet group,” McCabe said. “Together with his exceptional managerial skills, Nick’s first-class experience working with some of the world’s largest and most sought-after consumer brands makes him the ideal person to lead our leasing activities as we prepare our business for the future.” Brady takes the reins at a time when the outlet sector continues to show resilience and encouraging performance against the backdrop of a challenging retail landscape. In the second half of 2020, McArthurGlen opened a number of outlet shops across its portfolio as a result of new luxury brand partners, including the world’s first outlet store for Off-White in Serravalle, near Milan, as well as the firm’s first-ever boutiques for Givenchy and Celine. McArthurGlen also highlighted that it expanded its partnerships with Prada, Valentino, Burberry and Armani with new stores. The firm is preparing up to open its seventh UK centre, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet West Midlands, which is a joint venture between McArthurGlen, Aviva Investors and The Richardsons. Located just 30-minutes from Birmingham in Cannock, the outlet centre is on track to open in the next few months subject to local and national restrictions. McArthurGlen’s entire portfolio generates €4.5 billion (£4 billlion) in annual sales.
Tesco workers told to pause NHS Track & Trace app when at work to avoid false positives
Tesco is informing staff at some of its stores to turn off the NHS Track & Trace app to avoid false positives.
Employees at a Tesco store in Redruth, Cornwall, have been instructed by the retailer to pause the NHS Track & Trace app when leaving their phone in lockers while at work.
According to Cornwall Live, which first reported the story, this is intended to prevent the app’s algorithm from generating “false positive” alerts.
These could occur if an employee’s phone is placed in a locker next to another employee’s phone who later tests positive for COVID-19.
Anyone who is alerted by the NHS app that they’ve come into close proximity with someone who has tested positive for the virus must self-isolate for 10 days by law.
One worker told the publication the move was “cheeky as hell”, adding that if “someone with Covid walked past your locker, you’re still working with these people.”
Official NHS guidelines state that users should pause the app if they “store (their) phone in a locker or communal area, for example while working or taking part in a leisure activity like swimming”.
A Tesco spokesperson confirmed that it encouraged employees to download the app and pause it when phones are stored in lockers.
“A very small number of colleagues at our Redruth store have tested positive for Covid-19. Their close contacts have been informed,” the spokesperson added.
“The safety of our colleagues, customers and suppliers remains our number one priority and we are working with local public health authorities, following all Government guidance and taking the relevant precautions.
“We have extensive measures across all of our stores to help keep everyone safe, including protective screens at every checkout, social distancing signage and regular cleaning.”
ASOS to create 2000 new jobs
Asos has said it will invest £90 million in a new state-of-the-art fulfilment centre in Lichfield, which will employ 2000 people in the next three years. The AEW and Allianz Real Estate joint venture warehouse will span 437,000sq ft, and will be situated at Fradley Park within 12 months. Asos said this would allow for a gradual ramp up with testing to meet the capacity required for peak trade in 2023. “We’re thrilled to be laying down the foundations for our future growth in Lichfield,” Asos chief executive Nick Beighton said. “This significant investment in infrastructure and large-scale job creation is a reflection of the confidence Asos has in its future and the quality of the skills and talent available in this well-placed location. “When fully up and running in 2023, the site will support our ever-increasing customer demand and enable us to develop our offerings and delivery capabilities even further.” Business secretary Alok Sharma said: “Asos is a great British success story at the heart of our vibrant fashion industry and I welcome their clear vote of confidence in our skilled workforce. “This job-creating investment in Lichfield is exactly the type of long-term commitment we need from businesses as we build back better from the pandemic.” Asos currently operates warehouses in Barnsley, Berlin and Atlanta.
Pets at Home in strong position for 2021
Pets at Home has raised its full-year profit guidance thanks to further “momentum” during the golden quarter. The pets goods retailer said group like-for-like sales grew in the “high teens” across stores and online during December. The company also highlighted the “inherent resilience” of its pet care model and the underlying pet care market in the 28-week period to October 8, 2020. Pets at Home now expects to register an underlying pre-tax profit of at least £77 million for its fiscal year, which concludes at the end of March. The news comes after the specialist pet chain decided to return £28.9 million in rates relief, having remained open during the national lockdowns. Pets at Home said the safety measures it has taken in its stores mean it remains “in a strong position” going into 2021. “Our robust balance sheet and liquidity position was strengthened further at the end of 2020 through £80 million in initial cash proceeds relating to the completion of the disposal of our Specialist Group,” Pets at Home said.