First lady of football is made chair of Philip Green’s retail empire

BARONESS Brady has been made chairman of Sir Philip Green’s High Street empire.

Brady, 48, ( pictured) will take over at Taveta Investments, the parent company in charge of the Green’s Arcadia stores, which includes Top Shop and Burton.

The group has endured a rocky period, which has seen annual profits plunge by £130m and costs linked to the collapse of BHS.

Sales at Taveta also dropped 2.5pc to just over £2bn in the period, according to accounts filed at Companies House.

Brady, who was also chief executive of West Ham United Football Club – a post which saw her dubbed the First Lady of football – said: ‘It is a privilege to have been invited to chair.’

The Apprentice star, who advises Lord Sugar on the show, will take over from Lord Grabiner, who is stepping down from the position of non-executive chairman.

Grabiner spent 15 years leading the Taveta board, which came under fire from MPs for providing ‘weak’ corporate governance that contributed ‘substantially’ to the demise of BHS.