From high street king to a knight in rusting armour

Philip Green was a modernday monarch. With his slicked back hair and perma-tan, his yacht and his private jet, he was for more than a decade the swaggering, strutting king of the high street.

Tony Blair gave him a knighthood for services to the retail industry and David Cameron gave him a job reviewing Government spending and procurement.

One decade on, and the sheen has come off Sir Philip’s expensive shiny suits.

The man who once had the midas touch – in 2005 he was Britain’s fifth richest man and his wife Tina the wealthiest woman – is presiding over an empire crumbling through his fingers.

Problems have been brewing. In 2010, when he took up Mr Cameron’s offer to be his “efficiency adviser”, activists besieged some of his stores in protest at his alleged tax avoidance. Then came the scandal of his sale of BHS in 2015 for just £1 to Dominic Chappell, a former racing car driver and failed businessman who had been made bankrupt twice. BHS would go into liquidation a year later with a pension black hole of £571million, resulting in 11,000 job losses and 160 stores shut.

Sir Philip would hold on to his precious knighthood, bestowed in 2006, after paying £363million into the BHS pension schemes.

Now, after The Daily Telegraph’s investigation begun a year ago, it has emerged that Sir Philip and his company Arcadia Group paid employees who had accused him of sexual harassment and racism huge sums of money. Complainants signed gagging clauses, known as nondisclosure agreements (NDAS), preventing them going public with their claims. Sir Philip attempted to injunct this newspaper to stop his identity being disclosed.

It all adds up to a torrid, turbulent spell for a man who once could do no wrong.

The Telegraph reported last month that he had instructed advisers from Deloitte to explore a restructuring which could involve the closure of scores of high street stores, with the potential loss of thousands of jobs.

Arcadia remains a giant. It has about 570 stand-alone shops and concessions in a further 500 stores and employs 26,000 staff. But it also has a huge annual rent bill. One area of the business Deloitte is said to be looking at is possibly making Arcadia voluntarily insolvent under a Company Voluntary Arrangement. That would enable a restructure and reduce debt on some parts of the business, allowing Arcadia to shut stores and wriggle free of some of its long-term rent commitments.

Then there’s the particularly sensitive pension issue. The Telegraph reported recently that Arcadia’s pension fund may now be bigger than the “buy-out” deficit it showed across two schemes in 2016. Back then the deficit was £993 million.

The high street has been hit hard and Arcadia is reportedly struggling.

Arcadia’s sales fell 17 per cent in the three months to mid-november, according to reports, while Christmas trading, sources have told The Telegraph, was worse than expected.

More than a decade ago it would be unimaginable that Sir Philip could ever be struggling. He confirmed he had made it big in 2005 when he awarded himself the biggest pay cheque in British corporate history – a £1.2billion dividend from Arcadia. The dividend was paid to wife Tina and Arcadia’s ultimate owner through its parent company Taveta Investments.

Back then The Sunday Times Rich List estimated his and Lady Green’s fortune at £4.9billion, a billion or so below that of the Duke of Westminster. In last year’s list his wealth was reportedly down to a “mere” £2billion.

Sir Philip has given the impression that he had started with nothing.

In fact, he had been educated at a private prep school before attending Carmel College, known as the “Jewish Eton”, although he left at 15 without achieving any qualifications.

He started his own business at the age of 21, importing jeans from the Far East, and liked nothing better than doing the deal. By 2000, he had bought BHS for £200million, and followed that with the purchase in 2002 of Arcadia Group, which included Topshop, Burton, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis. He was the proclaimed “King of the High Street”, although he would fail – three times in all – in his bid for his ultimate goal: to own Marks & Spencer.

Since then Sir Philip and Lady Green have enjoyed spending their fortune. Take his 60th birthday party,

‘With the court case against The Telegraph now ditched, Sir Philip should have more time to concentrate on his retail empire. He may need it’

a lavish affair over four days and costing £6million at a luxury resort in Mexico. Guests included (inevitably) his close friend Kate Moss, her fellow model Naomi Campbell, and a host of celebrities including Leonardo Dicaprio, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Ronnie Wood and Simon Cowell.

Stevie Wonder, Robbie Williams and the Beach Boys provided the musical entertainment.

His 65th birthday in 2017 was somewhat less starry. It was held at the Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair and guests included Mike Ashley, Jamie Redknapp, Vernon Kay and Tess Daly.

By then Sir Philip’s business acumen was in doubt following the collapse of BHS.

When Chappell, who had bought the chain for £1, was convicted and fined £50,000 for failing to hand over vital documents to the pensions watchdog, the hapless, out-of-his-depth businessman complained that he had misguidedly put his trust in Sir Philip. “When I bought BHS I relied heavily on the undertakings of Philip Green, a knight of the realm, a billionaire and a high street guru,” said Chappell. The Pensions Regulator, in a damning report in June 2017, found the “main purpose” of Sir Philip’s sale to Chappell was to prevent taking on liability for the pension scheme.

“This report,” said Frank Field, head of the Commons work and pensions select committee who led an investigation into the BHS debacle, “confirms that Sir Philip Green stripped BHS bare and then left it for dead, with contemptuous disregard for the pensioners. But we knew that”.

Sir Philip’s spokesman tried to draw a line under the row: “This is the first and possibly the only time that a private individual, who has not been found to have done anything wrong, has voluntarily rescued a pension scheme. The matter is now closed.”

By autumn last year, Sir Philip was truly feeling sorry for himself. The Telegraph unearthed allegations of sexual abuse and racism levelled by former staff. Sir Philip had obtained an interim injunction preventing publication but Lord Hain used parliamentary privilege to name him.

In an interview with a tabloid newspaper, Sir Philip defended his record, explaining that anything he might have said was just “banter”.

He complained: “We all feel the same. It’s a horror story. Somebody can say whatever they like and people just follow you around, chasing you and harassing you. I’ve been in business for more than 40 years. There has obviously from time to time been some banter, but as far as I’m concerned that’s never been offensive.”

With the multi-million pound court case against The Telegraph now ditched, Sir Philip should have more time to concentrate on his retail empire. He may need it.

At Sir Philip’s 60th birthday bash, his “brand” was everywhere. His guests wore clothes bearing the logo PG60 (his initials and age) and cheered as the great Stevie Wonder sang him Happy Birthday.

His 70th birthday will doubtless serve up caviar, Pol Roger and lavish, over-the-top entertainment. It’s just not clear who will want to attend.