Arcadia earmarks stores for closure

As Arcadia continues to move forward with its cost-cutting strategy, the group has reportedly drawn up a list of stores that it's considering closing, the Financial Times reports.

The list of stores, seen by FT, reportedly includes locations like Meadowhall in Sheffield, Merry Hill in the West Midlands and Metrocentre in Gateshead. The stores are occupied by brands from across Arcadia’s portfolio - which includes Burton, Topshop, Evans, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Wallis - and reportedly cost the group about 11 million pounds in annual rent, according to FT.

Last week, Arcadia appointed property advisers from consultancy firm GCW to work alongside Deloitte on the company’s restructuring strategy. Arcadia said in a statement that it was "exploring several options to enable the business to operate in a more efficient manner" in the face of “an exceptionally challenging retail market" in the UK, sparking speculation that it would cut jobs and close stores.

A spokesperson for the retail group said, however, that “none of the options being explored involve a significant number of redundancies or store closures.” The spokesman made no mention of a CVA.

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