Arcadia appoints GCW as it mulls CVA

Sir Philip Green’s fashion group, which owns retailers including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton, has drafted in the property experts as it eyes a potential CVA. 

It comes after reports at the weekend suggested that leading retail property agencies CBRE and JLL had turned down any work with Arcadia; however, Retail Week understands JLL was never approached.

Arcadia is yet to formally launch a CVA, but Sky News reported last week that Green’s fashion group would do so in April or May, following discussions with landlords.

Any Arcadia CVA would require the approval of creditors and the Pension Protection Fund.

Green has reportedly been in conversation with the regulator, which would only endorse a CVA if it was satisfied that a restructured business would be more likely to meet its pension contributions.

In a statement last week, Arcadia said: “Within an exceptionally challenging retail market and given the continued pressures that are specific to the UK high street we are exploring several options to enable the business to operate in a more efficient manner.

“None of the options being explored involve a significant number of redundancies or store closures. The business continues to operate as usual including all payments being made to suppliers as normal.”

Arcadia is understood to have suffered tough trading conditions for some time, and Green has been embroiled in controversies ranging from the collapse of BHS, which he formerly owned, to claims of harassment, which he denies.

Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has ruled out buying Arcadia “even for a £1”.