Lady Green to put £50m into Arcadia pension scheme
Sir Philip Green with his wife Tina, left, and daughter Chloe
(Dave Benett/Getty Images)Lady Green, the wife of retail tycoon Sir Philip Green, will bring forward a payment into Topshop owner Arcadia’s pension scheme, it has been announced.
Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group, behind brands such as Dorothy Perkins and Burton, went into administration earlier this week, putting 13000 jobs at risk.
Arcadia’s pension deficit is believed to be in the region of £350 million, and the Green family had faced calls to help cover the shortfall.
A statement on behalf of Lady Christina Green, the owner of Arcadia ahead of administrators being appointed earlier this week, said that last year she committed to paying £100 million in to the company’s pension scheme in three instalments.
The statement added: "Two instalments of the amount of 25 million pounds each as agreed has already been paid, the third and final instalment of 50 million pounds was not due to be paid until September 2021.Lady Green is going to bring this payment forward to be paid in the next 7/10 days to complete the 100 million pound commitment of payment.”
High street retailers have suffered this year due to the Covid-19 lockdowns, adding to existing problems firms were facing, such as more online competition.
Ian Grabiner, chief executive of Arcadia, said earlier this week: “The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic including the forced closure of our stores for prolonged periods has severely impacted on trading across all of our brands."
He added: " Throughout this immensely challenging time our priority has been to protect jobs and preserve the financial stability of the group in the hope that we could ride out the pandemic and come out fighting on the other side. Ultimately, however, in the face of the most difficult trading conditions we have ever experienced, the obstacles we encountered were far too severe."
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