Manx shops owned by Sir Philip Green are explicitly not included in plans to shut shops elsewhere in the world.

The Douglas shops of Topshop, Burtons, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge are safe.

The Arcadia group is owned by Phillip Green’s family.

Sir Philip plans to close 23 stores, putting 520 jobs under threat, as part of a rescue plan.

Under the proposal, Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Topshop stores will close and rents will be cut at another 194 stores at the Arcadia group.

But the pensions regulator has doubts that the deal will ’adequately protect’ the pensions of employees.

The regulator’s support is crucial in order for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to be approved.

CVAs are a type of insolvency for troubled businesses that allows rents to be cut.

There are seven in total and all must be approved by creditors.

The proposal states that Arcadia Group is prepared to put an additional £100m into the scheme over a number of years to bridge a shortfall in pension contributions, but the regulator does not think the plans are sufficient.

Ian Grabiner, chief executive of Arcadia Group, called the steps ’tough but necessary’ to mend the business.

So why is the Isle of Man not affected?

The Isle of Man was explicitly mentioned in the business and recovery plan and the reasons for not including the Isle of Man were as follows;

The company has been advised that there is a lack of legal certainty as to recognition of the CVA in the Isle of Man;

The time and expense involved in resolving such issues is likely to be disproportionate to the benefit obtained by the company;

There is no readily available (and cost-effective) alternative in such jurisdiction; and

Compromising such claims is not necessary in order to achieve the purpose of the CVA or to implement the business and recovery plan.

Conor Bradley of Kane Ltd and Topshop’s Douglas-based landlord said: ’We are highly supportive of the recovery plan proposed by Arcadia’s advisors Deloitte.

’The CVA process will allow the group to re-set rents to sustainable levels and create a sustainable long term platform for the wider business to preserve as many of the groups employees as possible. Strand Street is an attractive location to trade from, and almost any retailers that has undertaken a CVA, have kept their Douglas premises and this shows great confidence in the island.

’We are certain the key to the success of Douglas is the due to the property rates, which can be typically up to 90% lower than a comparable mainland store.’

Arcadia also plans to shut all its 11 Topshop and Topman stores in the USA.

It trades in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, the USA, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany.

The group has a turnover of about £1.8 billion a year.