Former Arcadia Group employees secure 850 million pound pension deal

Former workers who were left financially stranded after the demise of Arcadia Group have now been able to secure their future in a 850 million pound deal with insurance company Aviva.

The agreement was settled with the trustees of the Arcadia Group and Arcadia Group Senior Executive Pension Scheme, seeing around 8,800 members receive benefits.

The employees initially entered into a Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment on November 30, 2020, for which Barnett Waddingham was appointed to provide administration services, while Gowling WLG offered legal advice.

In a release, Alda Andreaotti, chair of the trustees, commented: “This transaction is the result of our commitment to achieving the best outcome for members and I would like to thank all parties who collaborated with us.

“The trustees are extremely pleased with this substantial development and have already taken the opportunity to update members on what the buy-in means for them.

“Our hard work will continue to maximise the benefits for all members and prepare the schemes for buy-out.”

Questions surrounding the future of pensioners at Arcadia were brought to light after the group, which owned the likes of Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, fell into administration in 2020.

The company, which was chaired by businessman Philip Green, was hit by the impact of the pandemic and the prolonged store closures that took place as a result.