The 7 key questions
Sir Philip Green is to be quizzed by MPs on the Commons business committee about the BHS sale. Here are the questions the Mail believes he must answer.
Was Sir Philip aware of Dominic Chappell’s financial past?
Mr Chappell had been made bankrupt twice and had once gone into voluntary liquidation, yet Sir Philip was still ready to sell BHS to his company Retail Acquisitions for £1. Mr Chappell’s dubious history should have been a red flag for any deal, let alone one which risked the futures of thousands of staff and pensioners.
What questions were asked about Mr Chappell?
Sir Philip was unofficially advised by an investment banker of Goldman Sachs, and lawyers from ‘golden circle’ firm Linklaters were also involved in the deal. But it seems he relied solely on evidence from Mr Chappell’s own lawyers as proof of his credibility rather than getting an independent assessment.
Was Sir Philip aware Mr Chappell’s businesses still owed millions ?
Even if Sir Philip did not know of Mr Chappell’s bankruptcies, public inquiries into his affairs were continuing. This should have been enough to block the deal.
What guarantees were sought about the BHS pension scheme?
When Sir Philip sold BHS he knew the scheme was hundreds of millions of pounds in deficit and any buyer would need to fund this. Did he demand assurances the gap would be filled, or simply wash his hands of the scheme, leaving tens of thousands of workers in the lurch?
Why did he sell a store to his stepson at an apparent discount?
Sir Philip sold the store to his stepson for £6.9million. Weeks later he resold it for £10million. Sir Philip sees nothing wrong in the transaction but to outsiders the timing of selling off one of the few lucrative bits of the BHS empire looks unfortunate.
Why did he retain ownership of the BHS head office?
The BHS Marylebone House office is worth around £40million – a valuable BHS asset for any new owner.
How much will Sir Philip pay to plug the BHS pension gap?
Sir Philip could be investigated over the pension debts – so will he voluntarily help pay them off by putting in £200million? Given he took more than £550million out of the company, some may say it is the least he should do.