Fast-fashion entrepreneurs set out their stalls as high streets crumble

When Napoleon apparently described Britain as “a nation of shopkeepers” he would have had a very specific image in mind. However, while he probably didn’t anticipate the new generation that are transforming retailing — armed with their apps, global networks and ultra-fast-fashion — he would surely recognise the battle they are fighting with the high street.

Last week Monsoon Accessorize became the latest high street chain to reveal an emergency restructuring. Its proposed company voluntary arrangement, an insolvency procedure in which a struggling company seeks rent cuts, comes after a similar move by Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group, whose stores include Topshop.

Read the full article in The Times.