Sir Philip Green will have to shut 48 stores and axe 1,000 jobs to save Arcadia
SIR Philip Green will have to shut 48 stores and axe 1,000 jobs to save his troubled retail empire.
Arcadia Group’s creditors yesterday narrowly approved the drastic rescue deal.
The plan — covering Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Burton, Wallis and Evans stores — was finally passed by landlords at the second attempt.
Of Arcadia’s nearly 600 UK and Irish stores, 48 will close and rents on up to 194 other outlets will be cut by 25 to 50 per cent.
All of the retailer’s 11 Topman and Topshop stores in the US are also closing.
The news is the latest blow for Green, 67, who is facing multiple accusations of sex harassment in the US, which he denies. More than 75 per cent of creditors at Arcadia — ultimately owned by Green’s wife Lady Tina — voted for a series of company voluntary arrangements. The move avoided administration, which would have threatened thousands more jobs.
Sources said the vote was close. One added: “Clearly one or two were persuaded to change their mind at the last minute.”
But the result drew fire from rebel landlord Intu, which owns shopping malls including the Trafford Centre and Lakeside.
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A spokesman said: “We firmly believe that the terms are unfair to our full rent-paying tenants and not in the interests of any of our other stakeholders.”
Ian Grabiner, CEO of Arcadia, said the group’s future “is now on a much firmer footing”.
Green and his wife have pledged a pension pot funding package worth £440million.
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