SUNK: Future of 13,000 loyal workers in doubt... as Green’s empire collapses
SIR Philip Green’s Arcadia Group has gone bust, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.
The high street giant includes high street names Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton.
It has called in administrators after the Covid pandemic “severely impacted” sales across its brands.
Arcadia, which runs 444 stores in the UK and 22 overseas, said 9,294 employees are currently on furlough.
No redundancies are being announced yet as a result of the move and stores will continue to trade, administrators from Deloitte said yesterday.
Chief executive Ian Grabiner said: “This is an incredibly sad day for all of our colleagues, as well as our suppliers and our many other stakeholders.
Obstacles
“The impact of the Covid- 19 pandemic, including the forced closure of our stores for prolonged periods, has severely impacted on trading across all of our brands.
“Throughout this immensely challenging time our priority has been to protect jobs and preserve the financial stability of the group in the hope that we could ride out the pandemic and come out fighting on the other side.
“Ultimately, however, in the face of the most difficult trading conditions we have ever experienced, the obstacles were far too severe.”
Matt Smith, joint administrator at Deloitte, said: “It is our intention to continue to trade all of the brands.
“We will be rapidly seeking expressions of interest and expect to identify one or more buyers to ensure the future success of the businesses.” Earlier, Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group said its offer of a £ 50million lifeline was rejected.
It came as MPs called on Sir Philip to cover a shortfall in the pension scheme and urged the pension watchdog to fight on behalf of the group’s workers.
Stephen Timms, chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, called on the tycoon – who has an estimated £ 900million fortune – to stump up funds to fill the pensions black hole, which is estimated to be as large as £ 350million.
Former M& S chairman Lord Myners branded Sir Philip a “foul- mouthed asset stripper”.
The Labour peer told BBC Radio 4’ s Today programme that Arcadia under- performed because its chairman did not anticipate the competitive threat of internet sales.