Household goods chain The Range will not be following some other essential retailers and paying back the £36million it has saved in rates relief – but stressed it has used the cash to make stores Covid safe.

The Plymouth-headquartered company, run by former market trader Chris Dawson, has benefited from the Government’s year-long business rates holiday, designed to help stores cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns.

Pressure is mounting on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to extend the scheme, which is due to end on March 31, but also to close a loophole which has seen essential retailers, who have stayed open and even profited during the pandemic, to save millions of pounds.

And while some retailers – including Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl and B&M – have returned huge savings to the Treasury, others – including Waitrose, Iceland, M&S, Poundland and The Range – have not, and, indeed, don’t have to.

Chris Dawson, founder and owner of The Range

The Range, which in December 2020 announced profits of £46.741million on sales of nearly £1billion, is understood to have saved about £36million thanks to the tax holiday.

But the chain, which kept 180 stores open, is stressing it has used some of that cash to pay for the additional costs from making stores Covid secure and hiring extra staff. And it insisted it will use the “majority” of its profits generated this year to create 2,700 jobs across the UK.

A company spokesman said: “The rates holiday provided by the Government gave The Range the confidence (at the time it was announced) to invest in our stores and additional staff to ensure they were Covid secure whilst trading throughout the pandemic to date. The rates initiative has helped to offset the costs involved in achieving this.

“The Range is planning to use the majority of the profits generated this year to invest in future growth and to create 2,700 new jobs in the UK during the next 12 months.”

Supermarkets and other essential traders have been some of the biggest winners financially during the pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns.

Many, however, invested large sums into making stores safe for the public to visit, and also had to cover the costs of staff sickness and self-isolation.

Sainsbury’s said it has spent £290million including £110million on ensuring social distancing and buying PPE for staff.

However, some supermarkets decided to make payments to the Government. The likes of Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s came under pressure after handing out dividends to shareholders.

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The Treasury is now conducting a review of business rates with findings due to be published shortly. The Chancellor presents his Budget on March 3, 2021.

The Treasury has already confirmed there will be no increase in rates in 2021. Usually the bills go up in line with inflation.

The Scottish Government has now extended the rates relief north of the border to June 30.

Meanwhile, there is also pressure on the Chancellor to look at the situation regarding online operators, such as Amazon which only pays rates on its warehouses, and at a much lower rate due to their locations out of city and town centres.

Tesco's former chief executive Dave Lewis has called for a 2% online sales tax, and Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley wants online players charged more.

The Government has declined to say what the cash already paid to it by essential retailers will be used for, but there have been calls for it to be distributed to the leisure sector which has been severely damaged by repeated lockdowns.