Tina Green to be summoned to appear before MPs over BHS collapse
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Version 0 of 1. The wife of billionaire businessman Sir Philip Green is to be summoned by MPs to answer questions as part of their probe into the collapse of 88-year old high street chain BHS. Tina Green, who lives in the tax haven of Monaco, is due to receive an invitation from MPs on the Work and Pensions Select Committee in Westminster as part of an inquiry into the outflow of cash from the company and its pension pot. Dominic Chappel, the current owner of BHS, will also be requested to attend and answer questions. Sir Green is facing a double inquisition over the firm's demise, with the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee (BISC) probing the £1 sale of BHS to Mr Chappell in 2015. The company went into administration last week after 88 years on the British high street – with around 11,000 jobs believed to be at risk. Conservative MP Richard Fuller accused Sir Green of being a Judas by potentially betraying employees and pensioners, and fellow Conservative Mark Field called for an "urgent" inquiry into his conduct and that of consortium Retail Acquisitions (RA). Frank Field MP, chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, said: “The spine of our inquiry is looking at how and where money went out of the company, to whom it went, and how this may have disadvantaged the pensioners.” The BISC has said it will examine the steps taken by Sir Philip's Arcadia Group to ensure that BHS's new owner, Retail Acquisitions Limited, headed by Mr Chappell, was responsible. The committee's chairman, Iain Wright MP, earlier said the company's collapse had brought "misery and uncertainty for thousands of workers" while putting a "potentially significant" burden on the taxpayer in the form of pension liabilities. Administrators are currently seeking buyers for the retailer as a going concern and Mr Chappell said he is looking for US investment to draw up a rescue package. On Thursday he said that the dead weight of the £571 million pension deficit his firm assumed in purchasing BHS had blighted his ownership. He said: "After the administration, when the pensions side of the business is sorted out, we will be able to move on." According to reports, Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley was in talks to save the retailer days before its collapse and is still considering a buyout that would preserve the entire chain. In a statement to the Sunday Telegraph he said: "Any continuing interest that we have in BHS would be on the basis that we would anticipate that there would not be any job losses, including jobs at head office, and that all stores would remain open." Additional reporting by Press Association |