it's been confirmed that more than
thirteen thousand jobs are at risk
at the retail empire arcadia which
includes topshop
burton and dorothy perkins which has
gone into administration this evening
arcadia had been seeking a new injection
of cash
following lost sales because of the
pandemic but
a former boss of topshop jane
shepherdson has told the bbc that the
group's problems go back
much further than the pandemic and she
alleged that sir philip green
arcadia's chairman had failed to invest
in his retail empire
and had made its downfall inevitable
more details from our business editor
simon jack
in his pomp a fashion emperor who
dominated the high street
and didn't mind flaunting the vast
wealth it brought him
lavish parties attended by the rich
powerful and famous
a description he felt comfortable with
himself the empire was full of household
names that customers of all ages would
recognize
tonight that empire has collapsed into
administration
huge unemployment the woman credited
with building the top shop brand
explains where it all went wrong
phillips
overriding concern was to buy something
as cheaply as he could possibly buy it
and then to sell it for as much as he
could get for it the
online players such as asos and boohoo
don't have the cost space of the stores
they don't have to pay for staffing in
their stores
all they have is their online presence
they're much better at it they've
invested a huge amount of money in it
and they have a much better connection
with their customers the list of retail
failures is a long one but arcadia is
the biggest for years
there are 444 stores and hundreds more
concessions within other stores
there are 13 000 workers whose jobs are
at risk and an estimated 350 million
pound hole
in the pension scheme this is or was
the jewel in a crown that in truth
slipped many years ago once a powerhouse
of fashion retail
led by the king of the high street now a
business in
ruins led by a man considered the
unacceptable face
of capitalism but this is not about one
person
this tonight is about the thirteen 000
people
who are facing a very uncertain
christmas and thousands more
in a very troubled high street retail
sector
simon here thanks so much for talking to
us today
i spoke to one arcadia worker who didn't
want to be identified
who said the uncertainty had come at the
worst possible time
a lot of us are feeling a bit anxious
because we don't know the full extent
about what's happening ourselves
for us it's about money around christmas
time bills have to go out we don't know
if we can afford stuff for christmas
we're worried about what will happen to
our pension schemes will we still get
paid if we're in administration
tonight sir philip is here on his 100
million pound yacht in monaco where his
wife is resident
and who received a 1.2 billion pound
tax-free dividend from the business in
2005.
there is another twist debenhams makes
money from renting store space to
arcadia brands
arcadia's collapse could scupper a
rescue of the department store
by jd sports another 12 000 jobs at risk
the pandemic has been brutal to
businesses with underlying health issues
suddenly you've had covid which has left
you with a sort of perfect storm in
retail and those retailers who didn't
move on during that perfect storm
are the ones who are going to suffer and
die and that's what's happening to
arcadia but they're not alone
there are other retailers in a perilous
position as we stand today
stores are open in scotland and will
open in england on wednesday as
administrators try and sell off
christmas stock
and maybe some bits of the business
uh simon's with me now let's talk about
the future of these big brands
and indeed what happens to customers
who've got orders in right now
well the i've got the administrators
letter here they're saying no
redundancies are being made
at the moment all online orders made
over the black friday weekend will be
honored and as i said they're
trading the stores will reopen but
beyond that it's very unclear there's a
lot of industry chatter that some of the
online brands
might want to snap up the top shops
topmans of this world but it's the
brands they want not the physical stalls
and that's where the jobs are so it's a
very uncertain outlook
you've talked to civil green many times
over the years
you've mentioned his whereabouts there
i'm just wondering what you think is
going through
his mind and has there been a peep out
of him today i haven't heard from him
today
uh listen um for all his abrasive nature
he's actually more sensitive or thin
thin skins than people
might even explain his behavior thin
skin than people think
so he will feel this keenly but that
will be cold comfort
to the people who are facing an
uncertain future is there another act
in the philip green retail drama i don't
know he's very stubborn he's very slow
to change as we've seen
the future of retail is about technology
i don't think he's got the skill set
that modern retail requires
simon many thanks again simon jack our
business editor