Topshop’s ‘disgusted’ staff today revealed they were officially told they’d lost their jobs two hours after Asos announced its £330million takeover on Twitter – as Sir Phillip Green’s family is ‘set for £50m’ from the sale.
The outraged workers, numbering around 2,500, ripped into the online retailer as it was revealed that their former boss Sir Philip Green and his family are expected to gain £50million from the fire sale as experts told MailOnline that the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands and their warehouses full of stock had been flogged ‘on the cheap’.
ASOS reveled in the deal after winning a battle with rival Boohoo to grab the crown jewels of Sir Philip’s Arcadia empire after its collapse last year. It said on Twitter: ‘The rumours are true… @Topshop & @Topman are now part of the ASOS family’.
But one Arcadia employee said minutes later: ‘Nice way to find out I’ve lost my job, ASOS, great move for the people.’ Another added: ‘Thanks for informing me I’ve lost my job, after 10 years. Very compassionate.’ And a third said: ‘It’s actually disgusting. I’ve worked for Topshop for two years and my own manager found out through Sky News as the administrators didn’t inform us.’
ASOS hopes the deal will help it grow in the US. The sale will see 300 shops shut down and 2,500 store staff lose their jobs. But it will ‘look at’ saving Topshop’s flagship Oxford Street store, which would be its first and probably only high street shop, meaning the deal announced to the stock market this morning will leave more ‘big holes’ in UK’s ailing high streets as fast fashion companies hoover up collapsed retail brands.
Sir Philip Green’s family will reportedly pocket £50million from the sale of Topshop – yet the shop’s 1,000 suppliers are expected to get less than 1 percent of any cash owed to them, it has emerged. Sir Philip is still worth an estimated £930million despite the disintegration of his retail empire.
Green’s Aldsworth Equity, which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and controlled by his wife Lady Tina, is owed £50million due to an interest-free loan made to Arcadia in 2019. This will be paid back to the Greens before cash is handed to any suppliers, landlords, and HMRC.
ASOS, run by Scotland’s richest man Anders Holch Povlsen, worth £6.1billion, has bought the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, and HIIT brands from administrators for £265million. They also paid another £65million for current and pre-ordered stock.
Topshop’s sale came after an extraordinary collapse of a brand that was the biggest fashion chain on the high street just a decade ago. The brand had showstopping collaborations with designers including supermodel Kate Moss who was pictured holding hands with Sir Philip when she helped open its New York branch in 2009 – Topshop’s first in the US. Thousands camped overnight outside stores to buy Kate’s designer clothes.
In 2012 Arcadia Group was delisted from the London Stock Exchange when it was bought by Green’s Taveta Investments group for £850million. Its success contributed to him getting a knighthood and earning the nickname: ‘King of the High Street. Now Arcadia’s crown jewels have been sold for £330million including all its clothes and accessories.
Guy Elliott, retail analyst at consultancy Publicis Sapient, told MailOnline today: ‘Asos’ acquisition of Arcadia brands Topshop, Topman, and Miss Selfridge is a quick move to acquire some valuable consumers and brand assets ‘on the cheap’. I think it is disappointing and somewhat short-sighted that they are not keeping any of the brand stores. That to me feels like a bad longer-term decision’.