19 January 2021
Deloitte, administrators of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia empire announce its Outfit operation will close down by the end of the month, with more that 700 jobs lost.
Outfit brings all of the tycoon’s retail brands, including Topshop, under one roof.
It has 21 sites, mainly in out-of-town shopping destinations.
In regards to other brands, so far Evans is the only which has been sold – and this did not include its store network.
Next and JD Sports are rumoured to be among the competing bidders for the brands, with Topshop the most valuable and others including Burton, Wallis and Dorothy Perkins.
This being said, any deal is expected to result in the loss of some jobs as the new owners are unlikely to retain the group’s entire estate of around 400 stores in the current market.
21 December 2020
It has been announced today that Evans’ brand, commerce and wholesale business has been sold to City Chic Collective for £23 million.
A deal is expected to be completed on December 23, which will lay out the terms of the sale of the brands’ intellectual property, customer base and inventory, to City Chic. Evan’s store network will not be purchased and administrators, Deloitte state stores will continue trading for now.
Evans, plus-size clothing and footwear retailer is a part of Sir Philip Green’s collapsed retail empire, Arcadia.
City Chic Collective is listed on the Australian stock exchange and specialises in plus-size women’s fashion. It operates mainly online in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Deloitte said that the process to find new owners for the other Arcadia brands i.e. Topshop, Topman and Dorothy Perkins, was ongoing and that there has been significant interest expressed for each.
30 November 2020
Arcadia Group collapses into administration. The collapse of Sir Philip Green’s retail empire leaves 13,000 jobs hanging on a thread. It becomes just another corporate failure from COVID-19.
The retail empire operates from 444 UK sites and 22 overseas. It also has an online arm.
As of yet, no redundancies or store closures have been announced. The business will rather trade as normal, with stores ready to re-openahead of the UK lockdown restrictionsbeing lifted this week.
Appointed administrators from Deloitte begin the search for a buyer for the business.
27 November 2020
It has been reported by Sky Newsthat Arcadia Group is facing collapse within days.
As soon as next week, administrators from Deloitte are thought likely to be appointed to Sir Phillip Green’s retail empire.
Arcadia Group owns Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins. 15,000 jobs are at risk.
A retail industry figure said that the collapse of Arcadia is inevitable following unsuccessful talks with lenders about an emergency £30m loan.
If insolvency is confirmed it is thought this will be a catalyst for creditors scrambling to get their hands on the companies assets,even its online operations!
Sky News report more.
14 November 2020
It has been reported that Arcadia Group is in a race to secure £30m.
Talks with a number of parties are underway, in hopes to get the funds needed to prop up the business after the second English lockdown halted its pre-Christmas trading plans.
Without this financial backing, will Sir Philip’s empire survive the coronavirus pandemic?
27 July 2020
The latest on the situation of Arcadia Group isthat they are said to be on the verge of launching another restructure, after being battered by the coronavirus lockdown. If another restructure is launched, it would be the second for the retail giant in just over a year.
According to The Sunday Times,the company recently put forward a cost-cutting plan to the Pensions Regulator. Though exact details are unknown, it is reported that Arcadia has a deficit of £727 million in its pension funds.
The Retail Gazette report more.
09 April 2020
An update on the situation of Arcadia Group is that theyare seeking£50 million worth of funding, approaching banks and hedge funds.
The funding is to be for its distribution centre in Daventry, Northamptonshire, to help support the business through the coronavirus crisis.
A potential lender, approached about the plan has said that the company indicated its interest in getting a deal agreed as soon as it can. Currently there is no further update as to if a deal has been reached or not.
06 April 2020
Arcadia Group is rumoured to be facing a winding-up petition as it cancels orders to suppliers in a bid to stay afloat amid the coronavirus outbreak.
According to a spokesperson for the company, no decisions have been made yet. But, the terms of a rescue plan which wasagreed with creditors in June 2019, provided possibility of more store closures than the initially planned 22.
Last week it was reported that court records showed Principle Systems, a subsidiary of marketing company Principle Global, filed a winding-up-petition against Sir Phillip Greens’ retail empire. This is likely to be resolved but indicates a bigger matter than Arcadia are joining other retailers in delaying payments to suppliers in order to conserve cash. It is also likely that the petition wouldn’t be heard for a long time anyhow with many hearings being pushed into the Summer.
Principle Systems developed furniture and branding for the latest Ivy Park and Kate Moss collections in Topshop.
It is also heard that Arcadia are likely to serve notice on landlords to walk away from many of its 550 stores this week.
With the coronavirus pandemic hitting, there has been a dramatic fall in revenues for the business amongst other fashion retailers. Many retailers are scared that the once stores can re-open, the economic impact left with greatly reduce demand.
Following the governments lockdown measures, all stores have been forced to shut temporarily. Its e-commerce arm continues, despite a small proportion of sales coming to the group this way, compared to rivals such as Next.
Arcadia Group took further measures and cancelled orders with suppliers and changed payment terms on items already delivered, extending payment terms by 30 days.
Last week, Arcadia Group made 14,5000 of its 16,000 total workforce furloughed, under the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. This was for all store staff with the majority of it’s HQ employees to follow this week. Its senior leadership team and board will take salary cuts of between 25 and 50 per cent, whilst group chief executive Ian Grabiner has elected to receive no salary or benefits until the pandemic ends. With regards to fixed-term employment contracts, employees were told they would end early.
The pandemic has worsened Arcadia’s problems after several years of decline and a delayed entrance to the online retail market.
Background to Arcadia’s CVA:
Last year, after weeks of bargaining with landlords, the group moved to paying monthly rent rather than quarterly, with large rent reductions imposed at many trading locations.
The Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) it was under also included break clauses that allowed either the company or its landlords to break leases at certain intervals. The agreement covered for 20 Topshop and Topman stores where the company could trigger a break clause within six months of the CVA and a further 19 where leases could be broken after a year. The locations included Westfield Stratford and provincial towns such as Doncaster.
