Sir Philip Green to close 25 more stores than initially planned
Sir Philip Green's Arcadia is set to close 25 more stores than the initial 23 it announced earlier this week.
The Topshop and Dorothy Perkins owner revealed 23 stores would shut down earlier this week as part of plans to save the company.
Read more: Sir Philip Green told to put his own cash into Arcadia pensions black hole
Now a further 25 stores are set to close under separate insolvency proceedings.
The closures will mostly affect plus size clothing range, Evans, as well as six Miss Selfridge stores.
Arcadia has already shut around 200 stores over the past three years, and now has just 560 stores open throughout the UK and Ireland.
Under the proposed restructuring of the firm announced earlier this week, the company is set to reduce its contribution to the pension fund to £25m a year from £50m over the next three years, as well as the shutting of stores.
Green, who lost his billionaire status earlier this year falling from joint 66th to 156th on the Sunday Times rich list, has pledged to inject £100m into the fund to cover the shortfall.
“Following constructive discussions with all key stakeholders, we believe that a CVA is the best course of action to reduce our fixed cost base and ensure we can continue meeting our commitments to pension trustees, staff, creditors and our extensive supply chain for the long term, while continuing to serve customers through our portfolio of quality fashion brands,” said chief executive Ian Grabiner earlier this week.
Read more: Mothercare's annual loss jumps to £87m
It will also cut rent at 194 stores and shut all 11 Topshop and Topman stores in the US as it tries to avoid falling into the administration as other High Street retailers have done recently.
Arcadia are yet to provide a comment.