Type
Bankruptcy
Country
United Kingdom
Region
Location of affected unit(s)
Sector
Retail
Retail Trade, Except Of Motor Vehicles And Motorcycles
Retail Sale Of Other Goods In Specialised Stores
47.71 - Retail sale of clothing in specialised stores

5,664 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
19 January 2021
Employment effect (start)
19 January 2021
Foreseen end date

Description

Arcadia, the British fashion retail group, has announced that 31 of its stores across the UK will close permanently by the end of January, making 714 jobs redundant. The stores, which include all 21 stores of the group's Outfit chain, are currently temporarily closed because of the COVID-19 restrictions.

The Arcadia group, which owns fashion retail chains such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, and has over 400 stores, fell into administration in November 2020, putting 13,000 jobs at risk of redundancy. The administrators are currently seeking buyers for parts or all of the group.

Updated, 8/2/2021: Asos, the British online retailer, has acquired the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands from the Arcadia Group without acquiring the physical stores. It is expected that 70 stores will close permanently with the loss of 2,500 store-based jobs. About 300 head office jobs in the business areas of design, buying and retail partnership will be saved. A representative of the trade union Usdaw said that both Arcadia and the administrators had 'refused to engage' in negotiations with the union.

Updated, 9/2/2021: The administrators of the Arcadia Group have announced that the online retailer Boohoo had acquired the Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis brands without acquiring the physical stores. It is confirmed that all 214 stores of the three chains will close permanently with the loss of 2,450 jobs, while 260 jobs will be transferred to Boohoo.


Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2021), Arcadia Group, Bankruptcy in United Kingdom, factsheet number 103503, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/103503.