he former owner of BHS, Dominic
Chappell, has been accused of being "a liar" who had his "fingers in the
till" by top BHS managers.
The claims were made to MPs at a hearing into the collapse of the firm.
In
a scathing attack, the ex-chief executive of BHS, Darren Topp, alleged
Mr Chappell threatened to kill him during a row over company money.
Mr Chappell described that claim as "absolute rubbish" in a comment to a reporter after he had given evidence.
Mr
Chappell, whose Retail Acquisitions bought BHS for £1 last year,
defended his recovery plan for BHS, saying it had been "credible and
viable".
He told MPs that as the 163-store chain teetered on the
edge of collapse, Sir Philip Green, whose Arcadia group sold BHS to Mr
Chappell last year, scuppered a rescue deal with Mike Ashley, the owner
of Sports Direct.
However, Sir Philip has denied knowing of any bid interest from Mr Ashley.
'Premier League liar'
Earlier,
Mr Topp said he initially took Mr Chappell's claim to be a turnaround
specialist and property expert at face value. When Mr Chappell's
promises "unravelled", rather than "putting money in" he had "his
fingers in the till," Mr Topp said.
Former BHS financial consultant Michael Hitchcock was similarly
scathing of Mr Chappell and his team. He told MPs: "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: "The credibility and ability of the people Dominic surrounded
himself with were not fit for purpose... I fundamentally don't think he
understood what was going on.
"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 said.
'Death threat'
Mr Chappell, a
former racing driver with limited retail experience, had promised to put
millions of pounds into a BHS after he bought it from Sir Philip
Green's Arcadia group.
He said his business plan for BHS was
fundamentally sound and the retailer could have survived if he had been
able to raise sufficient funds.
However, there are questions over
his decision to transfer about £1.5m out of the company to Sweden. Mr
Topp said his initial reaction to hearing of the transfer was to call
the police.
During a heated phone call, Mr Topp told MPs, Mr
Chappell threatened to kill him. "If you kick off about it, I'll come
down there and kill you," Mr Chappell is alleged to have said.
However a Daily Telegraph reporter tweeted that, after the hearing, Mr Chappell described that claim as "absolute rubbish".
The money was transferred back to BHS, minus transaction fees.
Meanwhile,
Mr Hitchcock said he was forced to change the company's bank mandate to
"stop any chance of money flowing outside of the business".
'Philip went crazy'
During
his questioning, Mr Chappell said Sir Philip could have done more to
help save BHS, rather than tip it into administration.
Arcadia
was a major secured creditor, and it was Sir Philip who took the
decision to call in administrators Duff & Phelps, Mr Chappell said.
Mr
Chappell claimed that just before BHS went into administration he had
arranged a rescue deal backed by the billionaire owner of Sports Direct,
Mike Ashley.
On learning of this deal, "Philip went absolutely
crazy, screaming and shouting down the phone that he didn't want to get
involved with Mike Ashley," Mr Chappell said, adding that it was then
that Sir Philip called in a £35m loan.
During the hearing Mr Chappell also accused administrator Duff &
Phelps of being "heavily conflicted" because of its close connection
with Sir Philip, describing the firm as the billionaire's "ponies".
Mr
Chappell also said he was looking at launching a legal suit against
Arcadia and Sir Philip over a BHS property sale by the tycoon to his
stepson. He claimed that BHS missed out on £3.5m because of it.
'Significant funding'
However, a spokesman for Sir Philip denied those claims. He said he was "unaware of any bid interest by Mike Ashley."
Moreover,
Sir Philip had not chosen the BHS administrator, and "did not ban or
block Retail Acquisitions from meeting with the pensions regulator", the
spokesman said.
BHS could have been saved had Mr Chappell "brought funding to the table," he continued.
Sir
Philip's firm Arcadia "invested substantially in BHS and there was
significant funding at the point of sale. He [Sir Philip] gave Retail
Acquisitions every opportunity to succeed in the turnaround," the
spokesman added.
'Held to ransom'
The
BHS pension scheme, fully funded a decade ago, now has a £571m pension
deficit and negotiations over plugging these liabilities formed a key
part talks to rescue the retailer.
Mr Chappell claimed BHS was
"held to ransom" by the Pensions Regulator and Sir Philip. He said he
attempted to meet the Pensions Minister three times, only for her to
cancel on the grounds of being conflicted.
Also during his evidence, Mr Chappell:
- Declined to detail his earnings from BHS, but said he would send MPs a letter
- Called former BHS executive Michael Hitchcock "a man of many words and of very little delivery".
- Apologised for the "avoidable travesty" of 11,000 people losing their jobs
- Said there had been an enormous lack of investment in BHS under Sir Philip
MPs have already taken evidence from the pensions regulator and
financial advisers on the sale of BHS to Retail Acquisitions. Sir Philip
is due to appear later this month.
The Business, Innovation and
Skills Committee and the Work and Pensions Committee are hearing
evidence into the collapse of the 163-store group, which resulted in up
to 11,000 jobs losses and left a huge hole in the pension fund.
Duff
& Phelps announced last month that BHS would be wound down with the
loss of up to 11,000 jobs after efforts to find a buyer failed.
BHS,
which went into administration in April after the company ran out of
money and could not pay suppliers, is holding closing down sales over
the coming weeks.
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