Rescue deal sealed for Arcadia pensions

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 10, 2023

Pensions specialist Aviva said on Friday that it has completed an £850 million buy-in of the Arcadia Group Pension Scheme and Arcadia Group Senior Executive Pension Scheme. 

The deal had been widely rumoured in recent weeks and enables the Trustees to “secure benefits in excess of Pension Protection Fund levels for around 8,800 members of the schemes”.

Alda Andreotti, Chair of the Trustees, said: “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.” 

Former employees of chains such as Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins had been in the dark about what was happening to their pensions for some time since Arcadia collapsed in November 2020 and its various brands were sold off separately to buyers including ASOS and Boohoo Group.

Arcadia had been one of the biggest names on UK high streets before its collapse with as many as 13,000 employees. But none of the buyers of its brands chose to keep any physical stores open.