Are Sir Philip Green and Frank Field set for a rematch? Watch out for a sucker punch

There has been quite a fuss created by reports that Sir Philip is planning to sell off his retail empire

Sir Philip Green attends the Topshop Topman New York City flagship grand opening at Topshop Topman Flagship Store (Getty)

Forget the weekend bout between George Groves and Chris Eubank, or any of the forthcoming big ticket boxing matches for that matter: The reports would suggest we might be due an all time classic of a heavyweight dust up, free to air too.

In the (sort of) red corner we have Frank Field, the chair of the Parliamentary Work & Pensions Committee, who’s been keeping fit by sparring with the former directors of collapsed contractor Carillion. Facing him in the blue: Sir Philip Green, the billionaire retail entrepreneur.

The prospect of a rematch between these two has been raised in the wake of a report that Sir Philip is looking to sell part or all of his retail operations to a Chinese textile conglomerate by the name of Shandong Ruyi.

Now you may remember that the last time the tycoon sold off a part of the family’s empire it didn’t end well. BHS collapsed and its staff got hit with the double whammy of unemployment and the potential of a sharp cut to their retirement income down the line.

Mr Field rode in, with the members of his committee in his corner, and the two men engaged in a bare knuckle brawl.

Sir Philip was eventually issued with a warning notice from the Pensions Regulator, but the case was settled after he agreed to pump £363m into the scheme. Members won’t get all the benefits they would have enjoyed were BHS still trading, but the deal spared them the losses they would have incurred had it fallen in the Pension Protection Fund.

A points victory for Mr Field? He didn’t see it that way, and raised allegations about the settlement in a radio interview last August. Sir Philip responded with a lawyer’s letter (not for the first time). And there it more or less rested, with the two men returning to their respective corners.

Until, that is, the apparent arrival of Shandong Ruyi on the scene.

Mr Field immediately took to the ring, pledging to seek explanations from Arcadia, which is actually owned by Sir Philip’s wife Tina, and the Pensions Regulator as to how pensioners would be protected in the event of a deal.

Last year it emerged that the deficit at the company's schemes had swelled to more than half a billion quid. Although the company has increased payments into it by quite a bit, it’s still a troubling number, all the more so given the tough trading environment faced by Arcadia’s brands, which include Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins.

One thing that cannot be over emphasised is that the fate of workers' pensions should be at the forefront of regulators' minds when deals are put up for scrutiny.

So should we now rub our hands together, call our bookies and await the call of seconds out?

It might seem that way. But it’s notable that Sir Philip has yet to comment on the report that sparked all the fuss, and isn’t above stirring the pot when it suits his purposes.

His opponents would be advised to keep their guards up. There’s always the risk of getting sucker punched.