Sir Philip Green: I am working every day on BHS pension crisis
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Version 0 of 1. Sir Philip Green has denied putting pressure on the Pensions Regulator and dragging his feet over reaching a settlement concerning the pensions of 20,000 former BHS workers. Green sold the department store chain for £1 little more than a year before the retailer went bust in April with a £571m pension deficit. He said on Friday he was working to resolve the problem every day and that the process took time because it was highly complex. Green said he felt compelled to deny allegations about his conduct during negotiations over a deal. He said Frank Field MP, chairman of the work and pensions committee, was wrong to accuse him of obstructing a settlement. “Mr Field suggested in the House of Commons on Wednesday there was a lack of willingness on my part to reach a settlement with regard to the pension fund. This is untrue, totally inaccurate and unhelpful in solving this issue,” Green said. He also denied reports he was trying to extract concessions from the Pensions Regulator in return for injecting money into the BHS pension scheme. “There have also been suggestions in the press that I have tried to pressurise the regulator, or, as was stated on the front page of one newspaper, ‘blackmail’ it. This is wholly untrue. I am not in control of the process. I am following the process which has been set down by the regulator.” The billionaire retailer told MPs in June he would “sort” the pension deficit, which threatens to severely reduce the pensions of the chain’s former employees. Green and his family took more than £400m out of BHS during 15 years of ownership. Green said he and his team had been cooperating with the Pensions Regulator for 17-18 months. He said he had intended since before selling BHS in March 2015 to secure a better outcome for pensioners than the Pension Protection Fund could achieve. He said: “I would like to apologise sincerely to all the BHS people involved in this sorry affair. Contrary to all the coverage I have been working on this issue on a daily basis, and will continue to do so with my best efforts to achieve a satisfactory outcome for all involved as soon as possible.” Green and Field have been at war over BHS for months after Field criticised Green before he attended a parliamentary inquiry into the chain’s collapse. Green is battling to hold on to his knighthood, which is under review after complaints about his ownership of BHS. Green sold the business to Dominic Chappell, a former bankrupt with no retail experience. Chappell’s consortium collected at least £17m from BHS during its ownership. |