Retail news round-up: Topshop and Topman record increase in profits, and The Pensions Regulator gets power to avoid BHS-type scandals

Topshop and Topman report surge in profits in Ireland

Topshop and Topman have reported an increase in pre-tax profits to £1.84m in Ireland, The Irish Independent reported.

Revenues at the retail firms in Ireland rose 9% from £23.42m to £25.58m in the 12 months to the end of August 2016.

Pre-tax losses decreased from £1.8m to £535,000 last year.

Accounts for Arcadia Group Multiples (Ireland) showed an increase in revenues from £17.66m to £18.3m.

Pensions regulator to get power to avoid BHS-type scandals

The Pensions Regulator will be given proactive powers by the government to avoid BHS-type scandals, the Financial Times reported.

The regulator’s chief executive Lesley Titcomb said: “We have a number of cases going through the pipeline where we are looking to use our section 231 power.

“This includes the power to impose a recovery plan or schedule of contributions.

“We will be looking to use improvement notices more, and the penalty for non-compliance with an improvement notice is potentially a fine on the trustees.”