Sir Philip Green’s wife brings forward £50m payment to Arcadia’s pension pot
Tina Green, the ultimate owner of collapsed retail chain Arcadia, has announced she will bring forward a £50m payment owed to the company’s pension scheme.
Last year Monaco-based Tina Green, who is married to Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green, agreed to pay £100m into the company’s pension pot as part of a restructuring plan agreed by creditors.
Arcadia’s pension scheme has a deficit that is estimated to be £350m,
She announced this afternoon the third and final installment of £50m, which was not due to be made until September next year, will be paid within the next 10 days following the retailer’s collapse into administration.
Philip Green is the chairman of Arcadia, and the company’s public face, but his wife is the ultimate owner of the retail empire, which appointed administrators on Monday in a move that has put around 13,000 jobs at risk.
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband this morning called on Philip Green to plug the pension deficit at the failed firm.
‘Price of greed’
He told Sky News that employees “shouldn’t pay the price for his greed”, adding that the businessman “owes a moral responsibility” to workers that fear losing their jobs.
Miliband also cited the controversial £1.2bn dividend paid to Tina Green in 2005.
The group’s impending collapse came to light on Friday after it emerged talks with lenders over a potential £30m loan had fallen through.
Arcadia had said it was seeking the loan to help it survive following the “material impact on trading” prompted by the pandemic.
It comes 18 months after Green’s empire narrowly avoided collapse by securing a company voluntary arrangement that led to 1,000 job cuts and 50 store closures.