Store Closures: Pension and Job Losses

store closures: The pension deficit was 300m in 2017, according to the most recently published figures, according to The Guardian. Philip Green's Arcadia turnaround plan could lead to job losses and store closures Read more A spokesperson for the pension regulator said We are in discussions with the trustees of the Arcadia pension scheme in our role to protect members. The former BHS owner is in talks with the pension regulator and the trustees of his Arcadia group's pension fund about cutting annual payments into the scheme from 50m to 25m. Amid falling sales at his fashion empire, which is struggling against online competition from the likes of Asos and Boohoo, Green is desperate to reduce Arcadia's costs via a company voluntary arrangement, a form of insolvency which has been used by other retailers including New Look, Mothercare and Carpetright to close dozens of stores in the past 18 months. The investment is dependent on landlords agreeing to rent cuts and the closure of up to 50 of the group's 570-plus stores, alongside a deal with the pension trustees. One source said Green, whose family took a 1.2bn dividend from Arcadia in 2005, has agreed to plough 100m in cash into revamping stores and building his brands, which include Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Wallis. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.