Arcadia has furloughed 14,500 of its 16,000 employees, while senior leaders take a pay cut as a result of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The news comes after the group – which owns the likes of Topshop and Topman – joined the list of retailers demanding rent cuts after their stores were forced to shut.
Arcadia said all store staff have been furloughed from 21 March, with “the majority” of its headquarter employees to follow suit from 5 April.
The group’s senior leadership team and board will take salary cuts of between 25 per cent and 50 per cent, while Group Chief Executive Ian Grabiner has elected to receive no salary or benefits until the pandemic ends. Meanwhile, furloughed staff will benefit from the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme, which will allow them to receive 80 per cent of their salaries up to £2,500 a month.
