Sir Shifty spends £45m on new jet
HIS former BHS staff face an uncertain future after the high street giant collapsed with a £571million black hole in its pension scheme.
But Sir Philip Green did not let this stop him taking delivery of a £45million new jet.
The tycoon – who was last week grilled by MPs over the BHS collapse – has upgraded to the Gulfstream G650, described as ‘the ultimate VIP status symbol’. His wife Lady Green is reportedly planning to give the plane’s cabin a £300,000 makeover to make it even more luxurious.
The G650 is the fastest private jet available, reaching up to 680mph – just short of the speed of sound – and the largest, accommodating up to eight passengers and four crew. It is so exclusive that there is a three-year waiting list to buy one.
Sir Philip already travels between Britain and Monaco in a G550.
A spokesman said he did not know if the G650 was intended as a replacement.
The couple also own a £100million superyacht, the 300ft Lionheart, delivered earlier this year.
Their adult children, Brandon and Chloe, have use of another superyacht and a third is available for charter.
Although the Lionheart and G650 were understood to have been ordered before BHS’s collapse and the loss of around 11,000 jobs, the timing of their delivery has been a public relations disaster for Sir Philip, who sold BHS for £1 last year.
There were calls for him to be stripped of his knighthood, after it emerged he paid more than £400million of dividends to his wife during his 15-year ownership of the chain.
Sir Philip is a UK taxpayer living in London at the Dorchester Hotel during the week, but Lady Green is a fulltime resident in the tax haven of Monaco, so dividends paid to her were exempt from UK tax.
Lady Green is the controlling shareholder of parent firm Arcadia and she is also expected to face MPs’ questions.
Last week, Sir Philip pledged to solve the problems with the BHS pension scheme but he failed to provide details for its 20,000 members.
The jet’s delivery will raise questions over whether the money could have gone towards the pension deficit.
Sir Philip refused to comment. Contacted by The Sun, he said: ‘I don’t want to talk to you, is that clear? Goodbye.’