Pressure mounts on Greens to reveal how much they are owed by Arcadia
Sir Philip Green is under mounting pressure to lay out his financial exposure from the collapse of Arcadia as demands grow for the tycoon to plug a black hole in its pension scheme.
Accounting experts and MPs called for Sir Philip to set out details of any loans he may be due to recover from the failed retailer as it goes through administration - and to use his personal wealth to help staff who face a major blow to their retirement income.
Topshop owner Arcadia's pension fund has an estimated shortfall of £350m, meaning that now the company has collapsed its members are likely to be placed into the Pension Protection Fund lifeboat. As a result, as many as 10,000 savers will lose up to 20pc of their expected retirement income.
Labour MP Lucy Powell, shadow minister for business and consumers, said: "He has a significant personal wealth of his own and he should step in and do the right thing.”
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said: “Having extracted so much wealth from Arcadia, “[Sir] Philip and [Lady] Tina Green owe a moral debt to its workers, and should have to meet the cost of the pension shortfall”.
Arcadia failed earlier this week, putting 13,000 jobs at risk. Deloitte has been appointed administrator and will keep stores open while it seeks a buyer.
Sir Philip and his wife Tina - who is the ultimate owner of the business - base some of their companies in opaque jurisdictions such as Jersey and Monaco, a controversial but common business practice. As a result, it is difficult to establish what assets they own and whether they have lent any money to Arcadia.
In the late Nineties the couple moved to Monaco, where Lady Green became a resident. Sir Philip’s main retail companies have been owned in her name through the Jersey-registered Taveta Investments since.
Deloitte will now seek to recover money for creditors, and will be legally required to publish information about Arcadia and its finances in the run-up to its collapse.
Arcadia, which owns TopShop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton, is estimated to owe over half a billion pounds to pension scheme members and suppliers. In 2005 it paid a £1.2bn dividend to Lady Green.
A restructuring specialist said that based on accounts at Companies House, Arcadia has borrowed from external lenders, and the Greens do not appear to be a secured creditor.
Meanwhile, politicians have been calling for Sir Philip to plough more own cash into its pension schemes, although he is not legally required to do so.
Pension regulators have also come under pressure to reveal whether £50m in cash pledged by Lady Green has yet been paid to plug the pension scheme deficit.
She previously agreed to pump £100m into the schemes over three years while Arcadia said it would inject a further £75m. Lady Green is understood to have paid over £50m, but there is a ten-month breathing period before the rest is due.
British Property Federation warned that landlords will also be hurt by the collapse. Melanie Leech, chief executive, said: “It is hugely disappointing that Arcadia hasn’t managed to find a way forward, and that so many jobs are at risk. Property owners and other creditors will also be hit".
“It was only last year Arcadia undertook a controversial company voluntary arrangement, forcing property owners to accept significant rent cuts and promising in return that this would secure the business’ future.”
Accounting professor Prem Sikka called for clarity on whether any money is owed to the Greens by Arcadia.
