Fears for 1,000 retail jobs across Ireland as online firm eyes Topshop

Asos confirmed its "exclusive discussions" with the Arcadia administrators to buy Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, and other Arcadia brands

There are heightened fears for up to 1,000 jobs across Ireland working for the Topshop-Topman group after it emerged that a British online giant was in exclusive talks to buy the troubled retail group. 

Mandate trade union national co-ordinator Jonathan Hogan said it expects to have definitive news about the future in Ireland of the Arcadia group's Topshop, Topman, and Miss Selfridge stores in the coming days, after online retailer Asos said it was in exclusive talks to buy the names from administrators. 

Ever since Arcadia went into court-appointed examinership in Britain and Ireland in late November, there have been fears that its bricks and mortar stores across numerous city centres would never reopen, putting at risk 13,000 jobs in Britain and an estimated total of 1,000 direct and indirect jobs across Ireland. 

In Ireland, the court documents showed there were around 500 people working directly in the stores in the Republic, but the Mandate union said that are many more jobs across Arcadia's Topshop-Topman working in concessionaires, including in many Shaws department stores, as well as in the North. 

With the shuttering of the Oasis and Warehouse outlets, Mr Hogan said the Covid crisis had accelerated the difficulties facing the retail industry and the future of city centre retailing "in an overwhelming sense". 

The union's hopes were pinned on a bricks-and-mortar retailer buying the Topshop-Topman stores, as an online retailer could be less inclined to keep the physical stores open. "It is a concern," he said. 

Last week, British fashion retail giant Next said it had pulled out of the bidding for the troubled Arcadia group.

In its stock market announcement today, online retailer Asos said it was confirming its "exclusive discussions" with the Arcadia administrators to buy Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, as well as other Arcadia brands. 

Asos said the acquisition if it went through, would be financed from its own cash reserves and "would represent a compelling opportunity to acquire strong brands that resonate well with its customer base".  Asos shares climbed more than 5% to value the firm at £5bn (€5.6bn) by the stockmarket. 

Separately, another online retailer Boohoo which also owns PrettyLittleThing, said it was buying the collapsed Debenhams group for £55m (€62m) from administrators, in a deal that does include the stores. In Ireland, Debenhams had shut all its stores in the early stages of the first lockdown last spring under controversial circumstances.

Analyst Emily Salter at GlobalData said the unexpected Boohoo deal showed "the speed of change" sweeping across retail that raises the "question of the relevance of traditional department stores" after the Covid-19 crisis.

“However, there is strong competition from other online marketplaces, not least from leading force Amazon, but also from the likes of Next and Asos, so the Boohoo group will have to develop a more compelling branded offer for Debenhams for it to succeed," she said. 

Boohoo shares rose 3.5% to value the retailer at £4.4bn (€4.9bn)