Green pays £25m to his wife

SIR Philip Green handed his wife £25m last year for a loan used to fund the takeover of collapsed department store BHS.

Taveta Investments, which is the holding company for Green’s Arcadia Group, made £20m in offshore payments to Lady Green in the year to August 26, plus a further £5m in interest.

The transfer was one of many related party transactions made by the firm to members of Green’s family and close associates, including his stepson.

The company is the umbrella firm for Green’s sprawling retail portfolio which includes Topshop, Burton Menswear and Dorothy Perkins. Up until 2015 it included BHS, the retail chain Green controversially sold to serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1.

The money transferred to Lady Green, who is based in Monaco, is part of a loan she made to Taveta to fund its takeover of BHS in 2000. A year earlier she collected £20m plus £8.2m in interest payments.

Accounts filed at Companies House also revealed that £871,000 was paid to property firm Thackeray Estates Group for a redevelopment project. Thackeray is owned by Philip Green’s stepson Brett Palos.

Palos’s business partner Antony Alberti also sold two shops to Taveta during the period, netting his company Fame Capital a total of £3.5m.

Considered one of the most powerful businessmen in retail, Green’s empire has shown signs of crumbling lately.

Profits at Taveta plunged 42pc to £124.1m last year as it shut 47 stores to reduce costs. Sales slumped 5.6pc to £1.9bn.

Arcadia is said to be considering closing more of its 800 stores after Topshop crashed to a £ 10.9m loss, compared to a £59.4m profit a year earlier.

The company also owns Miss Selfridge, Outfit, Evans and Wallis.