Green grapples to plug another crippling pension black hole
SIR Philip Green is in talks with regulators over the future of his retail empire’s £565m pension black hole.
The High Street mogul is working on proposals that will allow him to carry out a brutal overhaul of his fashion group Arcadia that could lead to store closures and job losses, according to Sky News.
Arcadia owns fashion chains Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Evans, Miss Selfridge and Wallis.
Green, who turned 67 yesterday, is in talks with The Pensions Regulator over his plans for a so-called Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). Arcadia has a £565m deficit in its pension fund – a situation that is likely to raise eyebrows following the collapse of BHS a year after Green sold it to three-times bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1. BHS went under with a £571m black hole in its pension fund.
Green ( pictured) eventually agreed to plug the scheme with £363m as he faced calls to be stripped of his knighthood for his role in the demise of BHS.
He has previously said he would pay £50m a year into the Arcadia fund over the next ten years, but the regulator is keeping a close eye on his latest plans.
An Arcadia spokesman said it was exploring several options for the business.