Lady Green to pay £ 50m in vast Arcadia pension deficit

Lady Tina Green has said that she will pay 50 million pounds into Arcadia’s pension deficit ahead of schedule.

Sir Philip Green’s wife was the official owner of the retail empire, which includes Topshop and Burton, until she collapsed in administration on Monday.

Last year, he promised to inject £ 100 million into the company’s pension plan.

Two separate installments of £ 25 million have already been paid to the deficit-ridden plan.

He has now confirmed that he will pay the remaining £ 50 million, which is due for 10 months, within the next 10 days.

More than 9,000 current and former members of the pension plan face potential cuts of up to 20% of their current benefits.

It is understood that the plan is likely to be bailed out by the Pension Protection Fund after Arcadia’s insolvency on Monday.

The company’s total pension deficit is estimated at £ 350 million.

Lady Green, who lives in Monaco with Sir Philip, was the official owner of the retail empire until the administration earlier this week.

In a statement on behalf of Lady Green, the company said: ‘Last year, Lady Green pledged to pay £ 100 million into the company’s pension plan in three installments.

Two installments of the amount of £ 25 million each have already been paid as agreed, the third and final installment of £ 50 million was not due until September 2021.

“Lady Green will advance this payment in the next seven to 10 days to complete the payment commitment of £ 100 million.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Business Secretary Alok Sharma wrote to the Insolvency Service asking them to analyze the conduct of Arcadia’s directors to see “whether their actions caused damage to pension plans.”

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for The Pensions Regulator said: ‘We are aware of the challenges facing the business today in these unprecedented times and continue to work with the directors, trustees and their respective advisers, as well as the PPF, to protect the position of affiliates of Arcadia pension plans to the greatest extent possible.

Earlier this week, MPs also asked for more details of the June 2019 restructuring agreement reached between her, Arcadia, the pension regulator and the PPF, which allowed the group to avoid bankruptcy at the time.

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