While the US arm of Toys R Us struggles to consolidate, The Guardian takes a look at the situation in Britain as Toys R Us UK faces the possibility of complete collapse.
Toys R Us UK is facing potential collapse this week with the loss of 3,200 jobs as it struggles to win the support of the state-backed Pension Protection Fund (PPF) for a planned restructure.
The PPF, the industry-funded, state-backed safety net, demanded that the troubled retailer pump about £9m into the ailing Toys R Us UK pension fund.
This is in order to gain the PPF’s support for the retailer’s planned company voluntary arrangement (CVA) procedure, which involves the closure of at least 26 loss-making stores. That deal would lead to the loss of up to 800 jobs.
The insolvency procedure automatically pushes Toys R Us’s pension fund into assessment by the PPF, giving it a key vote at the meeting and the potential to block the process.
If the CVA does not go ahead, sources close to the company said it was likely to fall into administration with the potential closure of all 84 permanent stores and about 20 more pop-ups, putting all 3,200 UK staff at risk of redundancy.
