BRITAIN'S high streets are heading deeper into crisis with the expected financial collapse of national chain Arcadia and the loss of 15,000 jobs.

Arcadia, which owns brands including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton, is expected to appoint Deloitte as administrators in the near future.

The company is owned by billionaire Sir Philip Green, who lives part of the time in a London hotel and the rest in Monaco, a Mediterranean tax haven where he has a luxury £100 million cruiser.

The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) said Arcadia’s looming bankruptcy was “devastating” news for workers facing redundancy before Christmas.

The union called for talks with Arcadia bosses to try to save jobs and ensure fair treatment of staff.

Usdaw also urged the government to intervene to protect the retail industry, which is expected to shed 150,000 jobs by the end of the year.

The union said Britain’s high street retail industry was struggling even before the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, with sales lost to online retailers.

Usdaw national officer Dave Gill said: “This is a devastating blow for workers at Arcadia and could not have come at a worse time, just before Christmas.

“We are seeking urgent meetings with management and we urge them to end their longstanding anti-union stance and engage with us. 

“In the meantime we are providing our members with the support and advice they need at this difficult time.”

He said that 2020 has been “a terrible year for the high street” with more than 125,000 retail jobs lost and over 13,000 shops permanently shut. 

“Retail job losses and store closures are absolutely devastating and lay bare the scale of the challenge the industry faces,” Mr Gill said.

“Each one of those job losses is a personal tragedy for the individual worker and store closures are scarring our high streets and communities.

“What retail needs is a tripartite approach of unions, employers and government working together to develop a recovery plan. 

“We have long called for an industrial strategy for retail to help a sector that was already struggling before the coronavirus emergency.

“We have a choice here. Do we want to see the high street go to the wall, or do we want to save it? 

“Retail is an important feature of our towns and cities, it employs three million people and we need a recovery plan.”

Sir Philip infamously bought department store chain BHS for £200m in 2000, only to sell it on for £1 in 2015 with a deficit in the workers’ pension scheme of £571m.

Usdaw says that Sir Philip was “dragged kicking and screaming” into a voluntary agreement under which he put £363m into the pension scheme to rescue it.

The man to whom he sold BHS Dominic Chappell, was a three-times bankrupt who was later sentenced to six years in prison for tax evasion.

Thirteen months after Sir Philip sold Chappell BHS it closed with the loss of 11,000 jobs.

A Southwark Crown Court jury found Chappell guilty of failing to pay tax of around £584,000 on £2.2m of income he received after buying BHS for £1.

The court heard that Chappell spent the money on two yachts, a Bentley and a holiday in the Bahamas.

An Arcadia spokesman said: “We are aware of the recent media speculation surrounding the future of Arcadia.

“The forced closure of our stores for sustained periods as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a material impact on trading across our businesses.

“As a result, the Arcadia boards have been working on a number of contingency options to secure the future of the group’s brands.

“The brands continue to trade and our stores will be opening again in England and ROI as soon as the government Covid-19 restrictions are lifted next week.”