The cut-throat nature of British retailers was thrust into the open at a parliamentary hearing Wednesday as the former chief of the failed BHS store chain said owner Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him. “Unfortunately as time progressed that unravelled in terms of that promise and it became clear to us that rather than putting money in, he had his fingers in the till”.
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Sir Philip has come in for criticism for taking £400 million in dividends out of the firm during his 15-year ownership, and for selling it to former bankrupt Mr Chappell in 2015.
Chappell told a panel of MPs that BHS could have been saved if Sir Philip Green had assisted Chappell and Retail Acquisitions Limited (RAL) instead of calling in the administrators.
A spokesman for the tycoon said he was unaware of any bid by Mr Ashley or Sports Direct and did not block Mr Chappell’s firm, Retail Acquisitions, from meeting the pensions regulator before the takeover.
According to the BBC coverage of the hearing, a former BHS financial consultant Michael Hitchcock said: “The credibility and ability of the people Dominic surrounded himself with were not fit for objective….” He quoted Green as saying: “no one’s going to do a deal while I’m sat on the back of a yacht”.
Chappell also said that Green continued to wield control over the business through a 35 million pound loan.
As a major creditor, Chappell said, Green took the the decision to call in administrators Duff and Phelps. He claimed that BHS missed out on £3.5m because of it.
On 3 June, the administrators announced they would close all remaining 163 BHS stores across the United Kingdom, after a suitable buyer could not be found for the embattled chain.
The Pensions Regulator is investigating whether Sir Philip avoid his financial responsibility towards the fund and may call on him to contribute £200m into the fund to help close up its black hole.
A number of investigations have been launched into the affair including an Insolvency Service inquiry which could led to several former BHS bosses, including Sir Philip, banned from being directors of companies for several years.
Mr Hitchcock said: “I question his intelligence, he wasn’t a retailer”.
He is also expected to offer an olive branch to furious MPs on the Business and Pensions Committee by telling them he is working on a plan that will see more cash pumped into BHS’s pension scheme, which has been left with a deficit of £571 million.
“That’s a nonsense”, he said.
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Green denies Chappell’s allegations but MPs want answers about what actually happened and whether the Topshop boss could have done more to save BHS.
