British retailing company Arcadia Group, the owner of brands such as Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, has entered administration — a process similar to declaring bankruptcy.

Other brands owned by the group that Singaporeans will be familiar with include Topman and Miss Selfridge.

The Guardian reported the collapse as putting 13,000 jobs at risk though no immediate redundancies were announced.

The group's stores and websites will also continue trading, and physical locations will reopen in England on Dec. 2 when the coronavirus lockdown is lifted.

According to Reuters, administration is an insolvency process by which a company is placed under the control of an insolvency practitioner — in this case, Deloitte — with an aim towards rescuing the company.

It will protect Arcadia from creditors while a buyer is sought for the company.

Arcadia's owner Philip Green is not expected to bid for any of the group's assets.

Reuters called this the United Kingdom's biggest corporate casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Closer to home, local retail institution Robinsons announced earlier this year that it would be closing down.

Arcadia brands Topshop and Topman have already closed their physical stores here.

Top image by Sumita Thiagarajan

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