'Retail King' Philip Green Blamed For BHS Collapse
-
Loading... - EUGENIE JOLIE
- 25 Jul 2020
- 871 Views
- 0 Like
- 1 Comment
he former boss of BHS, Sir Philip Green, has been condemned as the "unacceptable face of capitalism" in a damning report by MPs.
Sir Philip Green systematically extracted hundreds of millions of pounds from BHS to accrue "incredible wealth” for himself and his family while refusing to address the "substantial" deficit in the company's pension fund, MPs have said.
In a scathing report by two Commons select committees, the former boss of the high street chain - once known as the 'King of the High Street' - was branded the "unacceptable face of capitalism".
The joint report said Sir Philip had a "moral duty" to make a "large financial contribution" to the 20,000 pensioners facing substantial cuts to their benefits.
The two committees - Work and Pensions and Business, Innovation and Skills - were also critical of Dominic Chappell, who bought the company for £1, but said the ultimate responsibility for the downfall lay with Sir Philip.
They said it was "inconceivable" Sir Philip had not realised Mr Chappell, a former bankrupt with no retail experience, was a "manifestly unsuitable" buyer and that he had "acted to conceal the true state of the BHS pension problem" from him.
The damning findings come just days after the Cabinet Office disclosed that it was reviewing Sir Philip's knighthood after calls for him to be stripped of the honour.
Frank Field, the Work and Pensions Committee chairman, said: "One person, and one person alone, is ultimately responsible for the BHS disaster. His reputation as the king of retail lies in the ruins of BHS.
"His family took out of BHS ... a fortune beyond the dreams of avarice, and he's still to make good his boast of 'fixing' the pension fund. What kind of man is it who can count his fortune in billions but does not know what decent behaviour is?"
The report concluded: "Sir Philip gave insufficient priority to the BHS pension scheme over an extended period. His failure to resolve its problems by now has contributed substantially to the demise of BHS.
"Sir Philip owes it to the BHS pensioners to find a resolution urgently. This will undoubtedly require him to make a large financial contribution. He has a moral duty to act, a duty which he acknowledges."
When Sir Philip acquired BHS in 2000 for £200m, the report said the company pension schemes were in surplus, but the high level of dividends paid out - more than double the after-tax profits of £208m between 2002-04 - had left it weakened.
Although he had been aware of the growing problem with the pension fund, he had resisted calls to deal with it, primarily because he did not want to reveal details of his past business dealings to the Pensions Regulator.
The deal with his junior business associate, Mr Chappell, was completed in March 2015 and 13 months later in April BHS went into administration.
Last week, Sky News revealed that the BHS brand will disappear from British high streets on 20 August with the closure of the stricken chain's final stores. The remaining 114 BHS shops will cease trading within four weeks, although many will close their doors for the last time before that date.
More than 11,000 employees are now facing unemployment, and 20,000 pension scheme members could see devastating cuts to their retirement benefits.
Mr Chappell, described in the report as being "out of his depth", was accused by the committees of having "had his hands in the till", paying "lavish" rewards to himself and his associates while the company foundered.
The committees were scathing about the way the participants had each sought to blame each other, saying that at times their inquiry had resembled a "circular firing squad" with Sir Philip the "worst example".
There has been no immediate response to the report from Sir Philip or Mr Chappell.
A Government spokesman said it highlighted the need "to tackle corporate irresponsibility and reform capitalism".
NIKITA
nice blog