^{Pic: The Scotsman}

I’m a fashion retailer – get me out of here! Arcadia on the brink of collapse - potentially leaving suppliers high and dry and 13,000 workers unemployed

Sky News has reported what ICSM Credit’s members have been saying for weeks that Arcadia is about to go into administration.

Famously owned by the bad boy of British retailing Sir Philip Green the group features some of the biggest names in the high street. TopShop, TopMan, Burton and Dorothy Perkins to name but a few could disappear if Arcadia collapses with Covid-19 lockdowns being the final nail in the coffin.

^{Pic: FT. Sir Philip Green has been in the news for all the wrong reasons} 

Suppliers and staff could lose out

ICSM Credit’s Ian Carrotte has been warning members of the credit intelligence group for weeks about the industry’s concerns about Arcadia.

“Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia has been in trouble for many months,” he said, “and if it is the end then thousands of workers and hundreds of suppliers will pay the cost of mismanagement and a certain amount of bad luck.”

The bad luck he alludes to is Covid-19 and the way the Government has hit retailers and businesses in general with the lockdowns.

^{Pic: Cara Delevinge models a faux fur for Topshop}

Mark Kleinman, City editor of Sky News reported: “Sky News has learnt that Arcadia Group - which owns TopShop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins - is preparing to appoint administrators from Deloitte as soon as next week. One retail industry figure said Arcadia's collapse had become inevitable after talks with a number of lenders about an emergency £30m loan ended without success.

“The appointment of administrators could happen as early as Monday, although one person close to the situation said the plan had yet to be finalised and that it could yet be delayed. If the insolvency is confirmed, it is expected to trigger a scramble among creditors to get their hands on the company's assets.

“It would involve Arcadia's online operations and the stores which are permitted to open under lockdown restrictions to continue trading, according to one retail figure.

“Arcadia's pension scheme is likely to have the biggest claim on proceeds generated by Deloitte, with TopShop and TopMan - the most valuable brands in Sir Philip's empire - likely to be worth several hundred million pounds.”

About ICSM Credit

ICSM Credit has more than four decades of experience as a credit intelligence group whose members gain inside information about firms in trouble allowing them to avoid bad debts and rogue traders. To join costs less than a tank of fuel - while at the moment there's a special free temporary membership offer during the Covid-19 crisis which gives access to free legal letters. ICSM also has an effective debt collecting service which has a global reach - ask for details from Paul.

For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com on how to subscribe and to join the UK’s credit intelligence network to avoid bad debts and late payers. Follow ICSM Credit on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube and Ian Carrotte on LinkedIn.

To keep up to date subscribe to the FREE ICSM Credit Newsletter to hear all the latest insolvency news and to see who has gone out of business click on the orange panel on the top left of the home page of the website www.icsmcredit.com or send an email to Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com

For details for the work of the journalist Harry Mottram visit www.harrymottram.co.uk