Retail empire Arcadia has gone into administration, meaning the potential loss of jobs across the UK, including its Ayrshire stores.

The company, owned by Sir Phillip Green, includes the brands Topman, Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, and Wallis.

Fears had been sparked on Friday, November 27 after the business tried to secure a £30million loan to steady it through Christmas.

Talks failed and administrators have now been called in, with 13,000 jobs at risk across the country.

The company has a Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, and a Wallis in Ayr and has a Burton and a Dorothy Perkins store in Irvine.

READ MORE: Debenhams in Ayr to close for good as company enters liquidation

Ian Grabiner, the boss of Arcadia, said it marked an "incredibly sad" day for the retail giant.

"The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the forced closure of our stores for prolonged periods, has severely impacted on trading across all of our brands," he said.

"Throughout this immensely challenging time our priority has been to protect jobs and preserve the financial stability of the group, in the hope that we could ride out the pandemic and come out fighting on the other side.

"Ultimately, however, in the face of the most difficult trading conditions we have ever experienced, the obstacles we encountered were far too severe."

Commenting on the news Dave Gill, Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) National Officer said: “Now that Arcadia is in administration it is crucial that the voice of staff is heard over the future of the business and that is best done through their trade union. We are seeking urgent meetings and need assurances on what efforts are being made to save jobs, the plan for stores to continue trading and the funding of the pension scheme. In the meantime we are providing our members with the support and advice they need at this very difficult time.

“Over 200,000 retail job losses and 20,000 store closures this year are absolutely devastating and lay bare the scale of the challenge the industry faces. 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 joined up strategy of unions, employers and government working together to develop a recovery plan. Usdaw has long called for an industrial strategy for retail, as part of our ‘Save our Shops’ campaign, to help a sector that was already struggling before the coronavirus emergency.

“There are substantial issues that need to be addressed likes rents, rates and taxation, to create a level playing field between high streets and online retail. Those issues will not be resolved with ‘sticking plaster’ measures like today’s 24-hour opening Government announcement. 

“Retail is crucial to our town and city centres, it employs around three million people across the UK. The Government must take this seriously; we need a recovery plan to get the industry back on its feet.”