Industry and Employment Correspondent 490 Irish-based retail jobs in companies including Topshop remain in serious jeopardy after fashion retailer Next withdrew from negotiations to purchase the collapsed Arcadia Group. The UK group employed 13,000 staff in 444 stores via brands including Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Miss Selfridge, Evans and Wallis. It went into administration in the UK before Christmas, due to pressure from the shift to online sales and the pandemic. Since then, the UK administrators Deloitte have been attempting to find a buyer for the business. The Irish operation was placed in liquidation, but the joint liquidators here - Ken Fennell and James Anderson of Deloitte - had kept the stores open over Christmas - until the latest lockdown - to maximise the value of the stock for creditors.