Sir Philip Green hit with ‘landmark’ enforcement action over £571m pension black hole at BHS
The Pensions Regulator said it was seeking redress on behalf of 20,000 scheme members
SIR Philip Green was last night hit with “landmark” enforcement action over the £571million pension black hole at BHS.
Watchdog The Pensions Regulator said it was seeking redress on behalf of 20,000 scheme members.
It has sent 300-page warning notices to Sir Philip and Dominic Chappell, the bankrupt who bought the high street chain for £1. It could see them being ordered to pay towards the deficit.
Pensions Regulator chief executive Lesley Titcomb called it an “important milestone” to get redress for scheme members “placed in this position through no fault of their own”. MPs last month called on Sir Philip to lose his knighthood over the collapse of BHS, which cost 11,000 jobs.
Last night he claimed he had made “a credible and substantial proposal” to the regulator, but it is understood to fall short of expectations.
Sir Philip and Mr Chappell will now have a specified period of time to respond to the notices.
Pensions Regulator chief executive Lesley Titcomb added: “We have been clear in our public commitment to make significant progress by the end of 2016 and the issue of these notices meets that commitment.
“Our decision to launch enforcement action is an important milestone in our work to attain redress for the thousands of members of BHS schemes who have been placed in this position through no fault of their own.
“Issuing warning notices at this time reflects the outcome of our investigations and that we are yet to receive a sufficiently credible and comprehensive offer in respect of the BHS schemes.
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“We continue to pursue the best deal for members of the BHS pension schemes. If parties wish to approach us with settlement offers, that course remains open to them.”
The regulator’s case teams will consider responses before passing the case to its determinations panel.
The panel, which operates at arm’s length to the case teams, will then decide whether to exercise the regulator’s powers to compel payment.
Commons Work and Pensions Committee chair Frank Field said: “We are not surprised that the Pensions Regulator has, like all the rest of us, lost patience with Sir Philip Green’s excuses and empty promises.
“His answer throughout our inquiry was always that he was going to ‘sort’ the disastrous position he left the pension fund in when he sold off BHS to Dominic Chappell for £1.
“We are glad to see TPR (the Pensions Regulator) is now calling his bluff and instigating enforcement proceedings.
“It seems clear Sir Philip would rather kick the can down the road and avoid responsibility than come up with any fair, sustainable settlement for BHS pensioners.”
The move comes after MPs unanimously recommended Sir Philip be stripped of his knighthood.
In a debate last month, he was labelled a “billionaire spiv” and compared to Napoleon as MPs lined up to criticise his role in the retail chain’s demise.
They asked the Honours Forfeiture Committee to ensure Sir Philip’s knighthood is “cancelled and annulled”, with the move viewed by one former minister as part of the businessman’s “humiliation”.
The Government also called on Sir Philip to “quickly” remedy the BHS pension scheme deficit.
The Pensions Regulator stressed the warning notices issued to Sir Philip, Taveta Investments Limited and Taveta Investments (No. 2) Limited are different to those issued to Mr Chappell and Retail Acquisitions Limited.