SPIV’S ‘DEATH THREAT’TO BHS BOSS
Chief executive claims triple-bankrupt owner said he would kill him after he accused him of ‘having fingers in the till’
A FORMER bankrupt who bought BHS for £1 threatened to kill the firm’s boss after being confronted over a £1.5million payment, MPs heard yesterday.
Ex-racing driver Dominic Chappell allegedly snapped when BHS chief executive Darren Topp asked why the cash was transferred to an obscure Swedish company in the days before the chain went bust.
Mr Topp claimed the businessman said: ‘I have had enough of you telling me what to do. It’s my business and I will do what I want. If you kick off about it, I’ll come down there and kill you.’
The former BHS boss continued: ‘I know it sounds silly, he said he was in the SAS and I knew he had a gun, so I told him, “If you threaten me again I’ll go to the police”.’
This was just one of a string of extraordinary claims made by past and current bosses of BHS and Retail Acquisitions – the firm which bought it from Sir Philip Green – during an explosive four-and-a -halfhour parliamentary hearing.
Mr Chappell was described as a ‘Premier League liar’ who had his ‘fingers in the till’. But the businessman hit back, blaming tycoon Sir Philip for failing to help him save the firm.
MPs have been hearing evidence from those involved in the failure of BHS, which collapsed in April leaving 11,000 jobs at risk and a £571million pension deficit. The firm was sold for £1 by Sir Philip to Retail Acquisitions – run by three-times bankrupt Mr Chappell – in March 2015.
Yesterday marked the first public appearance of Mr Chappell since BHS collapsed. The 49-year-old variously claimed he had been undergoing eye surgery in Boston, US, and on a business trip to Canada in the days after the firm went bust. But Mr Chappell admitted to MPs he had been on a yacht in the Bahamas at the time.
Mr Topp and BHS financial consultsaid
‘It just did not smell right’
ant Michael Hitchcock alleged that Retail Acquisitions took £17million from the proceeds of the department store’s property sales. But Mr Chappell said the cash was used to pay advisers and cover other costs.
Mr Hitchcock said Mr Chappell had convinced staff of his credentials, adding: ‘Like, I think, many others throughout this process, I think I was duped. I think the technical term is a “mythomaniac”. The lay person’s term is he was a Premier League liar and a Sunday pub league retailer at best.’
He added: ‘I question his intelligence, he wasn’t a retailer. The motive was purely for his own benefit. There is a big smell test which I adopt in a lot of these situations, and it just did not smell right.’
Mr Hitchcock told MPs he had been forced to change BHS’s banking arrangements to stop money flowing out of the company. Mr Topp added that assurances Mr Chappell had made when buying BHS ‘unravelled and, rather than putting money in, he had his fingers in the till’.
Wearing a grey suit, white shirt and blue tie, Mr Chappell sat alone as he faced the joint meeting of the business and work and pensions committees. He was forced to admit: ‘I have made a profit out of this. I worked in the business continuously for the last 13 months. I also racked up considerable fees on the way through and I also personally guaranteed money to the tune of several millions.’
In an extraordinary succession of claims, Mr Chappell also admitted he knew little about running a department store. He said: ‘I think Philip Green thought we would fail and sold to us nevertheless.
‘He made it very difficult for us. We knew nothing about retailing. We bought into their dream of a management turnaround plan.’
Mr Chappell admitted BHS was losing around £1.5million a week. He blamed Sir Philip and the store’s management for its failings – but when pressed by MPs he conceded that as members of the board, ‘we were part of the downfall’.
Labour MP Frank Field, chairman of the work and pensions committee, some had described Mr Chappell as a ‘Walter Mitty’ character. But the businessman responded: ‘That is your opinion. You are now being personal.’
On the crucial question of how much he had withdrawn from BHS Mr Chappell refused to give details, saying this would breach an insurance rule. However, he promised to write to MPs with a full list of payments.
During the hearing, Mr Chappell also claimed that before administrators were appointed he was close to selling the chain to Mike Ashley – the owner of Sports Direct and Newcastle United Football Club – until Sir Philip vetoed the deal.
He said: ‘Mike Ashley was going to save the business, but Sir Philip Green was screaming down the phone, saying he didn’t want to get involved with Mike Ashley.’ Mr Chap-
‘Screaming down the phone’
pell said he even offered Mr Ashley his shares, but his attempts were ‘railroaded’ by the Topshop billionaire – who called in a £35million loan held by his Arcadia group, pushing BHS into administration.
Mr Chappell insisted BHS would have been salvageable, saying: ‘If Sir Philip had assisted us, we could have saved BHS. We were in the throes of beginning a turnaround proper.’
He also blamed Sir Philip’s dealings with The Pensions Regulator for BHS’s woes. There are 21,000 members of the store’s pension scheme, which has a £571million deficit. Now BHS is in administration the scheme is being assessed by lifeboat organisation the Pension Protection Fund.
Mr Chappell said Sir Philip would not allow him to meet the pensions watchdog before the acquisition, threatening to call off the deal if he did – meaning a potential chance was lost to save the scheme.
Sir Philip is set to appear before the MPs next Wednesday to explain his role in the collapse.