Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins owner Arcadia has gone into administration, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.
The UK High Street giant has hired administrators from Deloitte after the pandemic “severely impacted” sales across the group.
No redundancies would be announced immediately, it said in a statement. But it does seem inevitable.
Deloitte repackaging the retial group
Topshop needs a short-term cash injection to the tune of £200m and a long term over-haul, which won’t be achieved. The retail group is a dinosaur which is operating in a digital age. Which has put potential buyers off, the whispers in the market suggest, bidders will come in for the online operations of the stores and look to introduce new Boohoo style trading.
Up to Christmas Arcadia’s stores will continue to trade as Deloitte considers all options available to the group.
All orders made over the Black Friday weekend will also be honoured, the administrators added.
Sir Philip Green bleeding Topshop dry
Sir Philp Green paid his wife just under a billion pound in the last decade. He has been bleeding the business dry for the last decade. It is believed he saw the demise coming years ago and stripped it from resources and assets.
Sir Philip Green’s retail empire had failed to secure extra funding to pay its debts after sales slumped during the pandemic.
The group, which runs 444 stores in the UK and 22 overseas, said 9,294 employees are currently on furlough.
The administration will give Arcadia breathing space from creditors, such as landlords for its shops or clothing suppliers, while a buyer is sought for all or parts of the company. Arcadia executives will still hold day-to-day control over the business.
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