88 years on the High Street

1928 – A group of American entrepreneurs opens a general store in Brixton with the aim of creating a UK version of Woolworths. Nothing is priced at more than a shilling. The following year, British Home Stores moves into home furnishings.

1933 – BHS makes its debut on the London Stock Exchange.

1977 – BHS teams up with Sainsbury’s to create SavaCentre hypermarkets, opening the first store in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

1982 – In an overhaul, BHS swaps supermarket-style rows for a layout closer to a department store.

1986 – BHS merges with Mothercare and Sir Terence Conran’s Habitat to become Storehouse plc.

1989 – Facing falling sales across the group, Storehouse reorganises its management, bringing in American retail executive David Dworkin as chairman.

1995 – BHS opens a branch in Moscow, putting it in the first wave of British retailers selling in the former Soviet Union.

2000 – Retail tycoon Philip Green pays £200million for BHS, taking the retail chain into private hands for the first time in decades. BHS has a pension fund surplus of £5m.

2002 – Green buys the Arcadia empire, snapping up brands including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton.

2004 – Between 2002 and 2004, the BHS shareholders extract just over £422m in dividends, the vast majority of which went to Green’s family.

2006 – Green sounds out Asda and Debenhams about buying BHS, as shoppers desert the chain for cheaper rivals.

2014 – BHS opens its first two food-only stores in Staines and Warrington and promises to beat the big four supermarkets by up to 10% on price.

2015 – BHS is sold to consortium Retail Acquisitions, fronted by Dominic Chappell, for just £1. Darren Topp becomes chief executive of BHS. By the end of the year the pension fund deficit has reached £226m.

2016 – On 25 April, BHS officially collapses into administration.