Tax Strategy

Heron Foods Limited, Heron Food Group Limited, Cooltrader Limited (dormant), Heron Properties (Hull) Limited (dormant) (collectively “Heron Group”) form a UK sub – group which is part of the B&M European Value SA group of companies (the “Group”).

This tax strategy applies for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

Heron Group is a responsible taxpayer and seeks to pay its taxes in full and on time. This includes corporation tax, customs duties, business rates, employer national insurance contributions, stamp duty land taxes and environmental taxes as well as VAT and employee taxes which Heron Group collects on behalf of the UK exchequer.

Our business relies upon our reputation with the general public, as they form our customer base, and with our suppliers and employees, with whom we need to maintain good relationships. It is therefore important that we meet both our responsibilities to comply with tax legislation and to pay the right amount of tax by the appropriate dates.

This statement of our tax strategy ensures that we are compliant with Paragraph 19 (2) Schedule 19 Finance Act 2016 in terms of content and meeting our responsibility to publish our strategy.

Risk management and governance arrangements

It is important to us that we are compliant with current tax legislation. Our accounting and payroll staff are trained and experienced in calculating the taxes which they deal with on a day to day basis. We have procedures in place and use software that includes checks and balances to ensure that calculations are carried out correctly. There is a detailed checking procedure in place and oversight in respect of all taxes is provided by the Finance Director of Heron Group.

For more complex calculations such as stamp duty land tax and corporation tax we use professional advisors. For other taxes, all our staff are encouraged to and do seek professional advice where they are unsure of the tax treatment of an item or transaction.

Tax planning

The financial performance measures used by Heron Group are revenues, EBITDA and cash generated from operations. As these are all pre-tax measures there is no pressure on Heron Group to seek to mitigate taxes. The Heron Group policy is that it will aim to maximise profit before tax and then calculate and pay the correct amount of tax due on those profits. Heron Group does not undertake aggressive tax planning or utilise any tax schemes, the sole purpose of which would be the obtaining of a tax advantage.

Attitude towards risk

Our attitude towards tax risk is to seek to minimise this as much as possible as this minimises our reputational risk. We do this by ensuring that we are compliant with tax legislation and that tax is paid by the appropriate due dates.

Relationship with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)

HMRC has appointed a Customer Compliance Manager to look after the tax affairs of the UK members of the Group. This includes the companies in the Heron Group. We aim to maintain an open and honest relationship with our CCM. We have appointed professional tax advisers who are also in contact with our CCM and assist us in managing that relationship. We attend meetings with our CCM as requested by them and are in contact with them as and when required. The purpose of these meetings and contact is to ensure the CCM is aware of any changes within the business that may have a tax impact. This allows us to discuss and agree any changes upfront and ensure that the correct tax treatment is applied.