Arcadia confirms looking at 'contingency options' as Covid hammers sales
Top Shop owner Arcadia said it was looking at a number of options to save the future of its brands after reports on Friday suggested the retail group could was teetering on the edge of administration.
Owned by controversial businessman Philip Green, Arcadia was ready to appoint administrators from Deloitte as soon as next week. The UK retail sector, already hit hard by a Brexit-induced slump, has been hammered by two lockdowns as the government tried to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and ordered non-essential shops to close.
Arcadia Group, which also owns Burton and Dorothy Perkins, said in a statement that enforced store closures for sustained periods "has had a material impact on trading across our businesses".
"As a result, the Arcadia boards have been working on a number of contingency options to secure the future of the group’s brands. The brands continue to trade and our stores will be opening again in England and Republic of Ireland as soon as the government COVID-19 restrictions are lifted next week.”
Bidders are likely to begin circling TopShop immediately, Sky News reported, with Boohoo Group, the online fashion retailer, among prospective suitors.
Some of Arcadia's other brands face being picked up by distressed retail investors or, like prominent names such as Cath Kidston, Oasis and Warehouse, becoming online-only fashion labels, the report added.