Green urged to plug Arcadia pensions gap
A SENIOR MP has called on Sir Philip Green to personally fund the pension scheme of his Arcadia retail empire if plans to reduce its deficit prove insufficient.
Frank Field, chairman of the Commons work and pensions committee, has written to the retail tycoon urging him to match the action he took when a “similarly grim situation” arose at BHS by pumping in his own cash.
Sir Philip this week decided to attempt a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) at Arcadia that would lead to the closure of 23 of its 566 stores in the UK and Ireland, putting 520 jobs at risk. Mr Field called the deficits at the pension scheme of Arcadia – which includes fashion chains Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge – “worryingly high” and said the decision to halve contributions as part of the restructuring was “disappointing”.
The former Labour MP, who now sits as an independent, welcomed reports
‘We will support the Pensions Regulator, and want to reassure members we are here to protect them’
that Sir Philip and his wife were making personal contributions to mitigate the reduction but noted that the Pensions Regulator had said these were not enough to protect employees and pensioners.
The couple offered to pay £100m into the scheme as they tried to drum up support for a restructuring that will see Arcadia withdraw entirely from the US and cut rents on almost 200 stores.
The proposed CVA requires approval from the Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund. Oliver Morley, chief executive of the fund, said it was reviewing the proposed CVA ahead of a vote on June 5. “We will support the Pensions Regulator to achieve this, and want to reassure scheme members that we are here to protect them,” he said.
Approval for the CVA by the Arcadia pension scheme trustees is required. Their independence was called into question after it emerged that half of them are also employed by Arcadia.
The company rejected the criticism saying that the scheme’s structure was in line with good practice.