End of an era as BHS shuts its last 22 stores
BHS will disappear from Britain’s high streets this weekend when it pulls the shutters down on its 22 remaining stores, drawing an end to nearly 90 years as a stalwart of town centres.
Tomorrow BHS, which began as a shop in Brixton in 1928 before expanding into hundreds of towns and cities, will permanently close its last shops, including those in Norwich, Exeter, Belfast, Romford, Leicester and York.
Administrators Duff & Phelps, which has sold BHS’s online and international operations to the Qatar-based Al Mana Group, said in July that all 114 BHS stores still trading would close by the end of the summer.
Shops have been plastered with “closing down sale” signs to shift cut-price stock, while staff have received redundancy packages.
Some workers have complained about being “held to ransom” by BHS’s administrators, claiming they have been threatened with losing redundancy pay if they leave before their notice period.
BHS’s collapse into administration last April has cost 11,000 jobs and left 22,000 pensions in the lurch, prompting a lengthy parliamentary inquiry into its former boss Dominic Chappell, as well as one-time owner Sir Philip Green.
Reports last night claimed that Sir Philip’s wife, Tina, could be forced to plug the £571m black hole in BHS’s pension scheme.
Sir Philip is currently in negotiations with the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) about the deficit, but regulators have become frustrated by delays, according to the Daily Mail.
It said sources close to the PPF have considered issuing Lady Green, who controls the companies that own the Green family’s assets, with a “contribution notice” if Sir Philip does not pay. The retail tycoon has pledged to resolve the issue, and trustees and regulators are reportedly prepared to accept a payment of around £350m.
A spokesman for the Pensions Regulator said: “Our focus is on achieving the best possible outcome for members of the BHS pension scheme and pension protection fund levy payers. Our discussions with Sir Philip Green and his advisers are ongoing.”
A spokesman for Sir Philip and Lady Green could not be reached for comment.