Ashley offers £50m loan to save rival’s brands

Two of the big beasts of the High Street look likely to clash again early this week after it emerged that Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group had offered £50m to keep Sir Philip Green’s stricken Arcadia Group afloat.

Arcadia, which is behind brands such as TopShop, TopMan, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, is thought to on the verge of caling in administrators in a move that would leave 13,000 jobs at risk.

However, Sky News reports that Ashley has now offered to step in with a secured loan of £50m to ward off the collapse of Arcadia.

It has been well documented that Ashley, who owns the Shirebrook-based Frasers Group, has long wanted to get his hands on the brands under the Arcadia umbrella.

Chris Wootton, Frasers’ chief financial officer, confirmed the offer on Saturday, saying: “We hope that Sir Philip Green and the Arcadia Group will contact us today to discuss how we can support them and help save as many jobs as possible.”

A statement from Arcadia is expected on Monday.