Philip Green’s Arcadia empire, including Topshop & Dorothy Perkins, collapses into administration with 13K jobs at risk

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    SIR Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire has fallen into administration with 13,000 jobs at risk, administrators have confirmed.

    The high street giant, which includes the Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton brands, has hired administrators from Deloitte after the pandemic “severely impacted” sales across its brands.

    Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia business has collapsed into administration
    The business tycoon’s empire’s folding has put 13,000 jobs at risk

    Sir Philip Green has been spending time on his £100m superyacht in Monaco

    Arcadia Group also owns TopMan, Burton, Miss Selfridge, Wallis and Evans.

    Sir Philip has recently been pictured relaxing on his £100million superyacht in tax haven Monaco.

    The collapse could put up to 13,000 jobs at risk, leaving workers at the stores fearing an uncertain future.

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

    ARCADIA COLLAPSE

    Orders made over Black Friday weekend will be honoured, administrators Deloitte confirmed.

    No redundancies are being announced and stores will continue to trade, Arcadia said in a statement tonight.

    Ian Grabiner, CEO of Arcadia, commented: “This is an incredibly sad day for all of our colleagues as well as our suppliers and our many other stakeholders.

    “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.

    Administrators Deloitte confirmed tonight that Arcadia had folded

    “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 we encountered were far too severe.”

    Matt Smith, joint administrator at Deloitte, said they would “assess all options available for the future of the group’s businesses”.

    He added: “It is our intention to continue to trade all of the brands, and we look forward to welcoming customers back into stores when many of them are allowed to reopen.

    ‘RESCUE BID’ REJECTED

    “We will be rapidly seeking expressions of interest and expect to identify one or more buyers to ensure the future success of the businesses.”

    Sir Philip had dismissed a Topshop “rescue bid” by Mike Ashley as a “publicity stunt”, leading to a stand-off between the rival billionaires.

    Sports Direct boss Ashley said he would offer a £50million “lifeline” to keep Green’s Arcadia Group out of administration.

    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.

    Meanwhile, Sir Philip is said to be planning a £30,000-a-night Christmas getaway to the Maldives.

    The luxury trip, as reported by The Mirror, is rumoured to include a stay at the One & Only Reethi Rah resort, where some villas cost £30,000 a night and lead straight into the Indian Ocean.

    Previous A-list guests include Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe.