End of an era as BHS branches close doors
DEPARTMENT STORE BHS disappeared from UK high streets yesterday as its last stores closed, bringing the curtain down on 88 years of trading.
The Doncaster and York branches were among 22 stores administrators closed in the final act of winding down the former retail giant.
BHS, which once boasted major branches all across the region, collapsed in April and this has led to the loss of 11,000 jobs.
Retail billionaire Sir Philip Green has borne the brunt of anger over the closure of BHS and faced calls to be stripped of his knighthood.
Sir Philip owned BHS for 15 years before selling it to serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1 in 2015.
Sir Philip has come under fire for taking more than £400m in dividends from the chain, leaving it with a £571m pension deficit and for selling it to a man with no retail experience.
A report by MPs last month branded the demise of BHS as the “unacceptable face of capitalism” and concluded that Sir Philip “systematically extracted hundreds of millions of pounds from BHS, paying very little tax and fantastically enriching himself and his family, leaving the company and its pension fund weakened to the point of the inevitable collapse of both”.
The report described Mr Chappell and his team as “out of their depth”.
Veteran Labour MP Frank Field has called for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to launch a formal investigation into the pair to ascertain if any criminal wrongdoing occurred during the sale of the chain and throughout their respective ownerships.
It has also emerged that Mr Field is probing Sir Philip’s Arcadia retail empire, which includes Topshop.
It has been reported Sir Philip is in discussions to make a voluntary contribution to the gap left behind in the BHS pension fund. He promised MPs he would “sort” the problem earlier this year.