Green knew BHS could go bust, MPs to be told
TYCOON Sir Philip Green knew BHS was on the brink of going bust when he sold it for £1, MPs will be told on Monday.
Lord Grabiner, a senior executive connected to the retail chain, will tell the Business, Innovation and Skills committee that BHS’s trading position deteriorated in the six years between 2009 and 2015, and it sought a buyer.
Grabiner, who was chairman of Taveta Investments which previously owned BHS will say: ‘The deterioration in the BHS business was such that the only practical alternative was to place the company into administration.’
The admission will embarrass Green, seen as one of Britain’s leading retailers. It exposes him to accusations he wanted to avoid being at the helm of a failed business and so sold it to Retail Acquisitions led by twice-bankrupt former racing driver Dominic Chappell.
Chappell kept it afloat for a year, providing Green with the buffer he needed to distance himself from any collapse. It finally succumbed to the inevitable last month.
MPs are probing the failure of the department store and in advance of his appearance, Grabiner has submitted evi- dence outlining what he knew about the deal with Chappell.
In it he said he checked to see that Retail Acquisitions had a viable business plan.
His evidence revealed that Catering Group Compass was interested in taking over and refitting around 11 in-store restaurants and Metro Bank wanted some space to open branches. He also revealed that bosses were considering opening BHS stores in India.
Paul Budge, finance director of Arcadia Group, will appear with Grabiner along with first cousin Ian Grabiner, chief executive of Arcadia. Green is slated to appear on June 8.
Meanwhile, the number of bidders hoping to snap up BHS appears to be whittled down.
Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley had expressed interest in rescuing the chain, but has pulled out after his offer was dwarfed by rival bids. He is understood to be making a bid for Austin Reed.
Administrator Duff and Phelps wants suitors to take on all of BHS’s 164 stores. A decision could be reached this weekend. The front-runner is John Hargreaves, the founder of Matalan, who is working with Select Fashions owner Cafer Mahiroglu.