The Range ordered to pay £89k to workers

PLYMOUTH-BASED retail giant The Range has been ordered to pay more than £89,000 to workers who didn’t receive the minimum or living wage. The company, founded by city tycoon Chris Dawson, is included on a list of employers who left staff out of pocket.

- By WILLIAM TELFORD

The companies were told to repay the workers the cash they were owed and could face financial penalties for not paying them correctly in the first place.

But Mr Dawson has told The Herald the underpayments to more than 1,6000 staff related to a few years ago, and were the fault of a “technicality” which was now resolved. He said: “Everybody is happy. The authorities accepted it was a technicality.”

CDS (Superstores International) Ltd, which trades as The Range, was named as the 15th highest defaulter in a list of 518 employers or businesses which have since paid back the money they owed employees. The companies faced financial penalties of up to 200% of the underpayment.

The list was compiled from investigations by HM Revenue and Customs staff between 2015 and 2022. It found that nearly 60,000 UK workers were underpaid by more than £7.4m. Derriford-headquartered CDS failed to pay £89,158 to 1,648 staff. The company said it dated back to 2021.