Tag Archives: high street business

Nigel Lindsay

Philip Green and bad business – Lib Dems must act firmly

By Nigel Lindsay | Wed 2nd December 2020 - 9:00 am

The collapse of Philip Green’s retail empire, Arcadia is a sad case of history repeating itself. It is only 4.5 years since BHS went into administration, and whilst Green was no longer the owner then, having sold it for £1 in 2015 to the serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell, it was under Green’s ownership in the previous 15 years that the under-investment and plundering of profits led to the situation where the chain was no longer viable.

Retail analysts are commenting that a similar set of circumstances mean Arcadia is now not fit for purpose. The shops look tired, and there has been a failure to embrace online technology at a time when going to physical shops is difficult for many customers. Additionally, Green is reputed to have taken huge dividends out of Arcadia – £1.2billion in 2005, all of which is safely secured in his wife’s name in the tax haven of Monaco.

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