At the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 5 March 2020 the shareholders passed an ordinary resolution to declare a final dividend of 8.0 pence per ordinary share in respect of the financial period ended 5 October 2019, amounting to a total dividend payment of approximately £4.0 million. The 2019 Final Dividend is currently payable to Shareholders on the register on 28 February 2020 and was due to be paid on 18 March 2020. On 17 March 2020, following a material reduction in footfall across the Company's estate as a result of consumers' response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") announced that it had taken the prudent decision to defer the payment of the 2019 Final Dividend, with the intention of convening a general meeting of the Company to seek Shareholder approval for the cancellation of the 2019 Final Dividend. The decision to defer and take steps to propose the cancellation of the 2019 Final Dividend is one of a number of measures which the Company has implemented in order to conserve the Company's cash balances with the aim of seeking to maintain the viability of the Company's business during an expected sustained period of challenging trading as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.