Howdens pays back furlough

HOWDENS Joinery will repay £30m of furlough cash and business rates relief thanks to booming demand after lockdown. The kitchens, joinery and hardware group is the latest to report surging demand for home improvements as families prepare for a winter indoors.

The FTSE 250 retailer, which supplies products to the building trade, said sales had risen 12.3pc between June 14 and October 31.

It will repay £22m from the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme and £8m of business rates, waived by some councils at the height of the pandemic, and pay deferred taxes before the end of the year.

Housebuilders Barratt and Taylor Wimpey paid back what they had claimed. William Hill said it would repay £24.5m in August following a ‘robust recovery’. But Ladbrokes Coral owner GVC was criticised for refusing to hand back money.