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Arcadia Group under investigation by pension watchdog

By Don-Alvin Adegeest

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Management

London - The Arcadia Group, Sir Philip Green's retail empire which owns Topshop and the now defunct BHS, is under investigation from the Pensions Regular. The announcement comes as the watchdog is in the process of determining if Green is responsible for a contribution towards the pension fund of the failed BHS chain.

The fall of BHS has prompted speculation there may be other retirement schemes at risk under the Arcadia portfolio. According to the Times, the pensions shortfall at Arcadia, whose brands include Dorothy Perkins and Evans as well as Topshop, widened from 124.6 million pounds to 189.6 million pounds in its accounts to August last year. On a “buyout” basis, the cost of insuring members’ benefits with a third party, the gap is likely to be several times bigger.

Last week MP's published a scathing 66-page report into the collapse of BHS, detailing how Green repeatedly refused to divulge information that could have helped the watchdog work out his “moral hazard”, the extent of his responsibilities to BHS’s two pension funds given his past benefits from the company.

Green's reluctance contributed to a failure to resolve the schemes’ 571 million pounds deficit that is now being bailed out by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

Green has accused MP Frank Field of turning a parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of the high street chain into a kangaroo court, wrote the Guardian. In a letter to the the chairman of the work and pensions select committee, Green restated he had not broken any rules and said Field had tried to create a “false narrative”.

On the Arcadia Group website, it stated the company would "be nowhere without our incredible employees which is why we take great care (and pleasure) in rewarding them for their energy and passion. We’re thinking about your future, which is why from day one you’ll get to join our Stakeholder Pension plan."

Sir Philip Green stated last week: “I am sad and sorry for all the BHS people caught up in this horrid story, but I do not believe that this story is being in any way fairly portrayed.”

Frank Field, chair of the work and pensions select committee stated: "He has to decide how much his knighthood is worth. I think the only slight possibility that he has of keeping it is if he pays in full for the pension deficit. That’s going to be an enormous sum.”

Photo credit: Topshop, Arcadia Group website

Arcadia Group
BHS
Sir Philip Green