World News – UK – Topshop owner Arcadia on the verge of collapse

css-14iz86j-BoldText {font size: bold;} Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire, which includes Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, is about to collapse

Sir Philip had spoken to potential lenders about raising £ 30million to support the deal through Christmas

However, those talks have failed and administrators could be appointed on Monday000 jobs are at risk

“As a result, the Arcadia boards have been working on a number of emergency options to secure the future of the group’s brands,” it said

“The brands will continue trading and our stores will reopen in England and the Republic of Ireland as soon as state Covid-19 restrictions are lifted next week”

But even before the pandemic, Arcadia’s best-known names – like Topshop – were battling faster online fashion retailers like Asos, Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing

And competing high street chains like Zara have invested heavily in their digital business, while Topshop has been slow to catch up

In his most recent reports for the year ended Jan. As of September 2018, Arcadia reported £ 934 million Pre-tax loss compared to £ 1646m Profit in the last 12 months

Sir Philip Green – once known as the “King of the High Street” – faces his greatest challenge to date

With his Arcadia retail empire on the brink of collapse, it’s the latest saga in a colorful career that once branded him the “unacceptable face of capitalism”

The retail tycoon’s life story so far is rich in character and anecdotes, from his failed attempts to take over M&S to a lavish lifestyle that has sparked allegations of tax avoidance

Richard Lim, managing director of Retail Economics, said that while all clothing stores were hit by the pandemic, “Arcadia’s demise has been accelerated due to an online offering that is far behind that of its competitors”

“Years of underinvestment in the digital channel severely limited their ability to trade successfully during this extremely difficult time,” he said

“Arcadia would be the UK’s biggest pandemic collapse if voluntarily liquidated,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and market analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown

“It would erode huge parts of the high street if its huge footprint on stores had to be closed”

If administrators are brought in, the stores will continue to be traded as buyers for the company – or more likely the well-known brands – that are put up for sale

There is some speculation that Boohoo could act as a buyer for part of the brand that year, the company bought the online stores of Oasis and Warehouse, adding Karen Millen and Coast, who acquired it in 2019

Non-essential retailers in England had to pay until Jan. Closing December for four weeks to contain the spread of Covid-19, which followed a lengthy lockdown earlier in the year

It has meant that other retailers with ties to Arcadia – such as the department store chain Debenhams – also have problems

As with many high street chains that had to be closed, Arcadia put many of the 13th000 workers of the group on vacation

The year started when I was 15000 workers In the summer, however, 500 jobs were cut at headquarters while the workforce moved to other, busier companies due to natural wear and tear

While it would be the victim of the pandemic if it collapsed, Arcadia is not alone

This month, fashion chains Peacocks and Jaeger were added to the management after the owner of Edinburgh Woolen Mill Group failed to find a buyer

And other retailers have cut jobs, including 3500 at Sainsbury’s and 1500 at John Lewis Partnership

Sir Philip is unlikely to buy back any of his brands when it goes into administration, first reported by Sky News

As part of this deal, the company and its landlords secured a rent reduction on the property as well as an agreement with the pension fund to put money into the company’s pension plans

Sir Philip and his wife, Lady Cristina Green, are worth £ 930 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List

Much of their wealth comes from a pound sterling2 billion Dividend payment Sir Philip took off Arcadia in 2005, two years after buying the business

It was paid tax free as his wife Lady Green lives in Monaco and is the ultimate owner of the company

In recent years Sir Philip has been the subject of controversy for selling BHS, the former department store chain, to well-known businessman Dominic Chappell for £ 1

The following year, BHS went with the loss of 11000 jobs and a pension deficit of 571 million GBP broke

The buyer of BHS, Mr Chappell, was recently sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of tax evasion

John Ralfe, an independent pensions expert who advised the BHS Pensions Labor and Pension Committee in 2016, told the BBC that Sir Philip Green appeared to have “learned his lesson”

Under a contract with the Pension Commission in 2019, Lady Tina Green, Arcadia’s largest shareholder, agreed to raise 100 million over a period of three years To pump GBP into their two pension systems

The broader group also said it would inject £ 75 million, despite pausing payments for six months in March due to difficulties due to the pandemic

Mr. Ralfe believes that the pension deficit for insurers can reach 350 million Could be GBP once the value of things like physical stores has been taken into account

It is assumed that the Pension Commission and the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) will be kept informed of plans for the group

A spokesman for the PPF said that while members of the schemes, while unable to comment on trading companies, “can be confident of our continued protection” “

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