Arcadia owner Philip Green has offered to provide an additional £185m into the company pension fund to help reduce the scheme’s deficit and attempt to win approval for a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

The offer comes in response to criticism from Work and Pensions Select Committee chair, Frank Field, and The Pensions Regulator (TPR), who labelled the initially planned £100m cash injection “insufficient”.

The planned CVA would see the scheme’s recovery payments cut in half, from £50m to £25m. The scheme's current deficit is over £500m.

Green has offered to provide the £185m from property assets, while Lady Green will provide the other, initial, £100m, that would be paid over the next three years.

The information was obtained after the confidential CVA documents that were sent to creditors were leaked.

Arcadia is still in talks with the Pension Protection Fund and TPR over the CVA and the vote is set to take place on 5 June.

It is seeking approval for the CVA to financially restructure the retail group and plans to shut a further 25 stores.

The Arcadia Group’s brands include Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge and it has reportedly closed 210 shops over the last two years.

The Work and Pensions Select Committee and TPR have been contacted by Pensions Age for comment.

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