Arcadia staff still in dark over jobs, but prospects look bleak

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 2, 2021

The sale of four Arcadia brands to ASOS on Monday was no surprise. But what was a surprise was that no mention whatsoever was made of the future of store jobs at the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT businesses.

The £295 million deal will make the labels fully online and while in a conference call later, ASOS did express some interest in continuing to operate the Topshop flagship at Oxford Circus, it came across as not being a massive priority.

It means that thousands of jobs are clearly at risk with around 70 shops likely to close as a result of the ASOS purchase, let alone the jobs that could also go if Boohoo buys the remaining Arcadia brands.

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ASOS will only take on around 300 people currently employed by the brands, but that leaves around 2,500 staff who still don't know what's happening.

They have been reports that staff are increasingly unhappy about the lack of communication from Arcadia and the administrators regarding their futures. 

As the ASOS still expected to complete on Thursday, more news could be forthcoming at that point.

Around 13,000 jobs are at risk at Arcadia as a whole, and in addition to 10,000+ jobs being lost from Debenhams, it all means a grim story for retail employment.

Since the pandemic began, jobs have also been lost from M&S, John Lewis, Laura Ashley, Ted Baker, Cath Kidston, Antler, Harrods, Monsoon Accessorize, Boots, Clarks, M&Co, Mulberry, Quiz, River island, and Selfridges, among others.