Top Shop sale worries pensioners

Sir Philip Green’s plans to sell his stake in Arcadia group – which owns high street brands including TopShop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge – has been criticised by regulators for failing to address worker pensions. Last year, it was found that Arcadia’s pension deficit stood at £56million on an ongoing basis – or almost £1billion on a buyout basis.

The company has 2,800 stores around the world and 26,000 employees.
Sir Philip has been in talks to sell his stake in Arcadia – which is estimated to be worth in the region of £2billion – to Chinese investor Shandong Ruyi.
This has resulted in calls on the Government to enable the Pensions Regulator to ‘pause’ the sale until the issues of the pensions have been sorted out.
Last year, Arcadia wrote off £100million due to declining store values and falling sales.