The future of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group - and around of its 18,000 employees - will hang in the balance for another week after its rescue bid was dramatically postponed.
The Topshop tycoon was expected to clear a major hurdle in his efforts to rescue his Arcadia retail group after agreeing to inject an additional £25m into its pension fund.
But the CVA process, which would have seen most of the group’s stores remain open but the Outfit site on Newcastle ’s Northumberland Street close down, has been put back until June 13 after a number of landlords refused to accept reduced rents.
Arcadia CEO Ian Grabiner said: “It is in the interests of all stakeholders that we adjourn today’s meetings to continue our discussions with landlords.
“We believe that with this adjournment, there is a reasonable prospect of reaching an agreement that the majority of landlords will support.”
Arcadia - which owns Topshop, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Wallis and Evans - had been warning that the company might go into administration if the CVA was not approved.
If the agreement had gone through, 50 stores would have closed and rents on nearly 200 shops would have been cut.
But it appears a number of landlords - reportedly including Eldon Square and Metrocentre owner intu - have called Sir Philip’s bluff and refused to back Arcadia’s plans.
Arcadia Group is the latest retail firm to suffer from the slump on the High Street which has claimed high profile victims such as Toys’R’Us and Maplins, while the department store chains House of Fraser and Debenhams have gone into administration.
A combination of factors, including rising wage costs, business rates, plus a switch to online shopping have been blamed for the crisis in the retail sector.
