Arcadia Group

Arcadia
Trade name	Arcadia Group Ltd
Formerly	Burton Group plc; Arcadia Group plc
Company type	Private company
Industry	Retail
Founded	1929; (as Burton Group plc); 1998 (as Arcadia Group plc)
Defunct	2021
Fate	Administration
Headquarters	London, England
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Philip Green (Chairman); Ian Grabiner (CEO); Paul Budge (Finance director); Deloitte (Administrators)
Products	Clothing; Accessories; Shoes
Brands	None
Owner	Taveta Investments
Number of employees	13,000 (2020); 0 (2021)
Divisions	Arcadia Group Brands Ltd; (in administration)
Subsidiaries	Topshop (sold to ASOS); Topman (sold to ASOS); Burton (sold to Boohoo); Evans (sold to City Chic); Wallis (sold to Boohoo); Dorothy Perkins (sold to Boohoo); Miss Selfridge (sold to ASOS); Outfit (closed);
Website	www.arcadiagroup.co.uk

Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998,^[1] Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (BHS), Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop, Wallis and Warehouse. At its peak, the group had more than 2,500 outlets in the UK and concessions in UK department stores and several hundred franchises operated internationally.

The company was majority owned by Taveta Investments, owned by Tina Green, wife of Sir Philip Green,^[2] chairman of the Arcadia Group.

BHS, also owned by Green, was integrated into Arcadia in 2009. In 2015 the then loss-making BHS was sold for £1 to Retail Acquisitions Ltd, owned by Dominic Chappell. In 2019, on the bankruptcy of BHS, British MP Frank Field, who previously investigated the BHS pension deficit, criticised Philip Green for paying considerable dividends to his family and to friend Richard Caring "when things are going well", and making his employees pay "when things are not going well".^[3]

In April 2019, it was reported that the Arcadia Group, controlled by the Green family, had recorded a £300m deficit in its pension fund, while the Green family had cashed out £1.2bn in dividends from Arcadia in 2005.^[3]

The Arcadia Group entered administration on 30 November 2020.^[4] By 8 February 2021 all of the brands previously owned by Arcadia had been sold off by administrators to online retailers, mainly ASOS and Boohoo, sealing the fate of the remaining bricks-and-mortar sites and thousands of jobs. Outfit, an out-of-town retail chain that comprised numerous Arcadia subsidiaries' merchandise, was not sold, and so was closed.^[5]

^ "Arcadia Group Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
^ Ruddick, Graham (8 July 2016). "Tina Green: Lady of leisure or 'blonde hurricane' of a formidable partnership?". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
^ ^a ^b Butler, Sarah (5 April 2019). "Topshop's Philip Green plans to halve Arcadia pension payments". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
^ "Topshop owner Arcadia goes into administration". BBC News. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
^ Bourke, Joanna (19 January 2021). "Number of Arcadia Outfit stores to close, with hundreds of jobs lost". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 February 2021.

[1] "Arcadia Group Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 16 May 2021.

[2] Ruddick, Graham (8 July 2016). "Tina Green: Lady of leisure or 'blonde hurricane' of a formidable partnership?". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2016.

[Butler-3] Butler, Sarah (5 April 2019). "Topshop's Philip Green plans to halve Arcadia pension payments". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 May 2019.

[4] "Topshop owner Arcadia goes into administration". BBC News. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

[5] Bourke, Joanna (19 January 2021). "Number of Arcadia Outfit stores to close, with hundreds of jobs lost". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 February 2021.

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