Bankrupt who paid £1 for BHS tried to put holiday to Bahamas on expenses!
Boss accused of using chain as ‘personal piggy bank’
THE triple bankrupt who bought BHS for £1 tried to fly his family to the Bahamas for Christmas on company expenses, it was claimed yesterday.
After his request was denied, Dominic Chappell is alleged to have demanded a ‘ hardship payment’ from the store in the form of a salary advance to cover the costs.
In documents published by MPs yesterday, the former racing driver is accused of treating the struggling retailer like his personal piggy bank.
In written evidence, former BHS chief executive Darren Topp claims Mr Chappell ‘saw no distinction between the company’s money and his own money’.
Mr Chappell is also said to have told the finance department to lend him £90,000 to pay a personal tax bill when ‘cash resources were limited and needed to pay both suppliers and employees’ payroll’.
Last night Frank Field, chairman of the Commons work and pensions committee, said some of Mr Chappell’s actions ‘appear quite extraordinary’. Mr Topp said that in Decem-
‘It’s pathetic and petty’
ber he blocked an attempt by the new owner to use the firm’s travel budget to book holiday flights to the Bahamas.
Angered, Mr Chappell then ‘sought to take his December 2015 salary early’, even though his firm, Retail Acquisitions, had ‘taken millions of pounds since acquisition’. Mr Topp said: ‘ Human Resources allowed this payment on the basis of “hardship”.’
Separate documents yesterday detailed the gravy train enjoyed by Mr Chappell and his inner circle at BHS, including his uncle and a friend.
On top of the £2.6million in salary, bonuses and fees received by Mr Chappell, five associates shared £1.3million on the day BHS was bought.
Three of them quit immediately, including Eddie Parladorio, who was awarded £460,000, Mark Tasker who received £387,500 and Stephen Bourne, who took £387,000.
Keith Smith, Mr Chappell’s uncle, who became chairman of BHS, received £27,500, while Lennart Higginson, who was made a board director, was handed £65,000.
Mr Topp said nine executives – including Mr Chappell – were also paid a total of £2.6million from March 2015 to February 2016, just before BHS went into administration.
In total, Mr Chappell is accused of taking £17million in salaries, fees, charges or expenses and loans while BHS was fighting for survival. This includes a £1.5million interest- free loan to pay his father’s mortgage. But Mr Chappell accused Mr Topp of claiming his ‘£5-6K’ first-class rail season ticket on expenses and ‘ running his new Porsche through the company insurance scheme’.
As for claiming a holiday on expenses, he said his travel agent offered a ‘very competi- tive price but the flights had to be secured that day’. He said that because he had been out of the office for a few days, he did not have access to his credit cards or bank log-in.
He claims he asked for the flights to be put on the company budget and promised to repay the money quickly.
Regarding the £90,000 loan, he said he ‘ had an urgent requirement for a payment to a third party’ and had been too busy working at BHS to move funds into his account.
He said he asked Mr Topp for a seven- day director’s loan and left a post-dated cheque to pay back the money.
He added: ‘At no stage have I used the company bank account as a private account.
‘It is absolutely childish for Darren Topp to suggest this. If these are the only two points Darren Topp can find to suggest I was running BHS bank account as my own account, it’s pathetic and petty.’