EX-ARCADIA STAFF GET PENSION DEAL
Joy for 9,000 hit by crash of Topshop chain
NEARLY 9,000 pension fund members of Sir Philip Green’s collapsed Arcadia empire are to get full retirement benefits.
A deal announced yesterday means insurers Aviva will take over schemes for ex-workers in return for a payment initially worth £850million.
Members faced a pensions shortfall after Arcadia, owners of chains such as Topshop and Topman, collapsed in 2020.
The schemes were rescued by the Pension Protection Fund, which steps in when firms go bust.
But the Aviva buy-in means members will get the benefits they would have previously received – more than if they had remained in the PPF. Pensions expert John Ralfe called it “excellent news”.
A buy-in typically involves a pension fund using some assets to buy an insurance policy to cover a proportion of its liabilities. The main Arcadia scheme has 3,824 retired members and 4,522 not yet taking a pension. A separate executive scheme has 464 members.
Alda Andreotti, head of the fund’s trustees, said: “This is a positive development. Members will receive benefits based on their Arcadia scheme rather than compensation from the PPF.”
The pensioners’ fate has been uncertain since Arcadia went to the wall with the loss of 13,000 jobs and an estimated £350million hole in its pension fund.
Green agreed to inject a substantial sum after talks with the Pensions Regulator. Nicola Parish, the body’s director of frontline regulation, said: “This should bring members peace of mind.
“It ensures they will receive benefits based on their scheme pension rather than on the PPF.”