When Sir Philip Green, the British owner of clothing chain Topshop, flew to Iceland in October, he hoped to buy the £1bn-£2bn of Baugur debt held by the country’s collapsed banks – a deal, which would have given him a stranglehold on UK fashion at a bargain price.

As Iceland’s horrendous year draws to a close, it is the country itself and international creditors to those banks – Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir – who will decide the fate of large, over-indebted holding companies including the Baugur empire, which spans stakes in House of Fraser and Hamleys and fashion brands such as Karen Millen and All Saints.