Jobs at risk in high street bloodbath

A HIGH STREET bloodbath is under way as the jobs of around 25,000 staff at Arcadia and Debenhams hang in the balance.

Some 13,000 staff at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group face an anxious wait following the business collapsing into administration. And Debenhams, which is already in administration, said it would start a liquidation process after JD Sports confirmed it had pulled out of a possible rescue. The department store has around 12,000 staff.

Arcadia’s brands, which includes Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton, has hired Deloitte to handle the next steps after the pandemic “severely impacted” upon sales across its brands.

Many of Arcadia’s staff worked at its brands’ concessions in Debenhams, which had hoped for a rescue.

Exclusive talks with JD Sports have now ended after the sports chain retailer walked away. A winding down process has begun.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the Government “stands ready” to help workers affected by job losses at Arcadia and Debenhams.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Sunak said: “The news about Arcadia, and indeed

Debenhams, is deeply worrying for employees and their families and the Government stands ready to support them.

“With regard to various things that are ongoing, there are negotiations between various parties and the companies at the moment – particularly with regard to pensions – and it wouldn’t be right for me to comment specifically on those.”

Retail workers in stores forming part of the Arcadia empire, including Wallis and Evans, arrived at work yesterday.

Workers on Oxford Street, in central London, prepared stores ahead of reopening today, despite news that Arcadia had fallen into administration.

Arcadia, which runs 444 stores in the UK and 22 overseas, said 9,294 employees are currently on furlough.

No redundancies have been announced as a result of the appointment and stores will continue to trade, the administrators said, with many due to reopen today when England’s lockdown is lifted.

Ian Grabiner, chief executive of Arcadia, said: “The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the forced closure of our stores for prolonged periods, has severely impacted on trading.”

Retail trade union Usdaw has said it is seeking urgent meetings with Arcadia’s administrators in a bid to preserve jobs.

Dave Gill, Usdaw national officer, said: “We are seeking urgent meetings and need assurances on what efforts are being made to save jobs, the plan for stores to continue trading and the funding of the pension scheme.”

The administrators said they will be “assessing all options available”, which could see brands sold off in separate rescue deals.

Earlier on Monday, Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group said an offer of a £50 million lifeline for Arcadia was rejected.