Sir Philip Inexperienced together with his spouse Girl Cristina

Sir Philip Inexperienced and his household should plug a £350m gap within the pension fund of their retail large Arcadia, the Work and Pensions Committee chair has stated.

The Arcadia Group, which incorporates Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, is getting ready to collapse.

It’s anticipated to enter administration on Monday, placing 13,000 jobs in danger.

The committee chair, Labour MP Stephen Timms, stated: “This can be a dreadful time for Arcadia workers to be worrying about their jobs and their pensions.”

“No matter occurs to the group, the Inexperienced household should make good the deficit within the Arcadia pension fund,” he stated.

Mr Timms stated he would elevate the matter with the Pensions Regulator on Monday.

Sir Philip is chairman of the Arcadia group, whereas his spouse, Girl Cristina Inexperienced, is almost all proprietor of its dad or mum firm Taveta Investments.

The couple are price £930m, based on the Sunday Instances Wealthy Record.

Arcadia’s manufacturers as soon as dominated Excessive Road vogue, however its chains have been hit exhausting by retailer closures brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, and the energy of on-line clothes retailers corresponding to Boohoo and Asos.

The BBC understands Sir Philip is on his super-yacht Lionheart, which is docked in Monaco’s harbour. He has to date declined requests for an interview.

A BBC reporter within the principality stated there was no signal of Sir Philip on deck, however crew members had been busy cleansing the 90m-long vessel.

Sir Philip’s superyacht is docked in Monaco

Pensions advisor John Ralfe informed the BBC that if Sir Philip selected to make use of his private wealth to plug the outlet within the Arcadia pension pot, that may guarantee staff enrolled within the scheme obtain their full pension.

However Mr Ralfe stated even when the retail magnate didn’t try this – or if he writes a cheque that’s considerably lower than £350m – Arcadia staff ought to nonetheless obtain most of their pension entitlement via the Pension Safety Fund.

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“The excellent news is the federal government has a lifeboat – the Pension Safety Fund – which is designed to ensure that individuals get compensation if their firm goes bust,” he stated.

“The compensation they get is not the complete 100% of the pension promise they had been anticipating, however it’s not far quick.”

There had been reviews that Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group was providing a £50m mortgage to assist preserve Arcadia afloat, however sources near Arcadia stated there wouldn’t be an 11th hour deal.