£18M PENSION DEFICIT PROBE FOR TOYS R US

TOYS R Us has been questioned by MPs over plans to fund a £18.4m pension black hole as it prepares to close at least 26 stores, putting 800 jobs at risk.

The retailer is entering a company voluntary agreement, a process that allows it to continue trading over the festive period while it pays the money it owes. In a letter sent by the Work and Pensions Committee, chairman Frank Field asked Graham Barker, chairman of trustees of the company’s pension plan, why a valuation of its defined benefit scheme had not been carried out since 2007.

The company made a loss of £673m during the year ending January 28.