Topshop owner Philip Green has become the latest billionaire tycoon to ask for a Government bailout after closing 550 stores in response to lockdown measures.
Green, who has a net worth of £1billion, has asked for his 14,500 employees to be paid by the Government via the Chancellor's Job Retention Scheme - which covers 80% of their wages.
The retailer said 14,500 of its 16,000 employees would be furloughed by the weekend, leaving a skeleton team in place.
The Government’s job retention scheme pays 80% of an employee’s wage, capped at a maximum of £2,500 a month, using taxpayer money.
Arcadia will cover the remaining 20% until stores reopen their doors.
Like other fashion retailers, Arcadia, which owns brands such as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, is facing a financial crisis as people are being told to stay at home.
The public are being urged to only shop for 'essential items', while measures have been put in place to fine those who flout the rules.
There's also the fact that people simply aren't motivated to buy new clothes if they can only wear them at home.
However, the company, like Next, Laura Ashley and Debenhams, has been struggling long before the pandemic reached the UK's shores.
The fashion group was on the brink of collapse last June, after creditors backed a rescue plan that involved the closure of 50 stores, 1,000 job losses and rent cuts of up to 70%.
The majority of branches hit were Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Miss Selfridge stores.
The company continues to ask landlords for rent cuts and has paused payments into its pension scheme.
Arcadia’s chief executive, Ian Grabiner, who will receive no pay or benefits until further notice, said using the scheme was "essential" to get the company through "these unprecedented times". Some board directors and senior managers have agreed to take a salary reduction of 25%-50%.
The move comes after Philip Green was ordered to pay £363million into the BHS pension scheme after selling the now-defunct chain to tycoon Dominic Chappell for £1. Less than a year later, the company collapsed.
Sofie Willmott, a retail analyst at the consultancy firm GlobalData, predicted that other clothing and footwear chains will now follow suit with plans to use Government aid to say afloat.
"With clothing and footwear spend dropping off a cliff, retailers are cutting costs where they can to protect their long-term futures. There is no work for store staff while non-essential physical locations remain closed and head office employees will have little to do other than manage the cancellation of orders and attempt to drive online sales."
British Airways this week became the next multi-million-pound corporation to suspend cabin crew and ground staff - placing 36,000 on the Government's furlough scheme for at least two months.
Explaining the decision, BA boss, Alex Cruz said: "We need to act now to protect jobs and ensure that BA comes out the other side of this crisis in the best possible shape."
Budget airline easyJet was one of the first companies to take advantage, placing 4,000 workers on the initiative.
Under the scheme, employers will pay 20% and the government 80%.
However, not all firms are playing by the same rules.
Both McDonald's and the £450million owner of JD Wetherspoon, Tim Martin, have said they won't pay workers a penny - leaving them with just 80% of their wages.
The 20% cut in wages is particularly galling when staff at the likes of Greggs and Costa Coffee will be paid in full.
Retail analysis have warned that a fifth of small businesses will go bankrupt on the back of lockdown measures - while 20,000 shops will never reopen.
On Thursday, fashion giant Next put its warehouses up for sale in a desperate bid to raise cash amid hundreds of temporary store closures.
The forced closure of non-essential shops has been a fresh blow for a high street already struggling as a result of weak consumer spending and the shift to online shopping.
