How nice to see the major supermarkets paying back government Covid payments.
Not only have they fed the nation but they've shown how businesses should behave towards the society they profit from
Wouldn't it be nice if all those that received payments but either didn't really need them, or could now afford to pay them back...did?
"Ask not what your country can do for you"
Just to play devil's advocate here, 'need' doesn't actually come in to it, at least not for the SEISS payments. My business is around 40% down due to Covid-19 so I am confident that I'm eligible for the 3rd grant. The fact that I haven't spent up to or beyond my means over the years is irrelevant.
This was a good move and I am aware of several other firms following suit in respect of furlough payments too.
It’s a pity that the Government is resolutely refusing to help those who take their remuneration via dividends though and avoid the question whenever challenged, see yesterday’s PMQs for example. I would have thought that these entrepreneurs make up a large tranche of Tory supporters.
Last edited by JeremyO; 3rd December 2020 at 18:50.
Aren't they only doing this because they believe it will benefit them more to return the funds in the long run than keeping them? This isn't going to be a selfless act.
How would that work?Originally Posted by hughtrimble
If you read my post I was saying several things.
I applauded the firm's that are paying back
I commented that it would be nice if all those that didn't actually need the "help" started to pay back
And finalised with that great speech from Mr Kennedy that put the moral societal view rather than the personal "what can I get" view.
So no devils advocate really needed here
Several possible reasons really, on top of some sense of altruism
- Supermarkets did not suffer a lot financially from the crisis
- Top executives were not prepared to give up their bonuses, and taking tax reliefs while paying large bonuses in times of a(n) (inter)national crisis is a PR disaster
- On the other hand, paying it back generates great headlines...
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
The supermarkets are only doing this as they see it as being cheaper than being piloried in public.
That, in addition to some investigation in the future and getting fined like two did in the milk price-fixing.
Supermarkets are NOT benevolent societies, and to think otherwise is naive in the extreme.
Thought it funny to hear one of them say that apparently their business model had proven resilient to the pandemic. So all othing to do with the other shops shut and they are surprised by just how much they could inflate prices and get away with it, the cheeky monkeys
Wonder if any of the failed Government contracts handed out to friends and family will hand back their windfalls.
They can’t win. If they didn’t return money they’d get stick. Now they’re returning it, it’s for the wrong reasons.
Lol, not to worry, I’m fairly sure the supermarkets (and their shareholders) being very nearly the only shops open for a full qtr of the year will survive just fine without our sympathy!
I've wondered how the directors square returning hundreds of millions with their duty of responsibility to their shareholders but I'd rather they did return it than not.
Not sympathy but don’t think they should be criticised for doing the right thing.
Anyway, bulk of their sales would have been food/household which shoppers would have bought from them anyway.
It is the right thing to do and should be applauded. If there's mutual shaming now encouraging others to cough up, then that's fine with me.
Supermarket trading was unaffected so it is only fair that they shouldn't benefit from from this relief. They actually did benefit in the general course of business because they were pretty much the only show in town for a decent period of time so no doubt they will have still done well.
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