The Very Group will restart dividends to billionaire owners the Barclay family after hitting pause on the payments for four years.

The online retailer plans to pay a dividend of “up to £25m” to parent company VGL Fino during the first quarter of its current financial year, which started on July 1.

Aidan and Howard Barclay, the sons of the late David Barclay, are listed among the directors of VGL. It is ultimately controlled by the family settlements of David and his twin brother Frederick.

Details of the dividend plans were laid out in an offer document for a £575m bond issue. If paid, it would be the first dividend paid since 2017, when Very, then known as Shop Direct, paid out £400m to the Barclay family. 

But the Barclays were forced to inject £250m after the group booked provisions for mis-selling PPI alongside the credit it offers customers. 

Very has emerged as one of the winners of the coronavirus pandemic, benefiting from the shift in spending to digital channels and the uplift in categories such as electricals. 

The etailer posted a pre-tax profit of £82.5m in the nine months to March 31. Its profit in the whole of its previous fiscal year was £91m.   

Very’s upturn in fortunes has prompted the Barclays to reconsider an IPO, which could be launched as soon as next year. 

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