Duff & Phelps look set to be appointed today as administrators to BHS after the high street retailer’s owners sent a letter to staff over the weekend warning they saw no other option after failing to find fresh funding or a buyer, putting some 11,000 jobs at risk
Last week saw intense speculation over the fate of the chain, and on Sunday Dominic Chappell, the former racing driver who heads up new owners Retail Acquisitions, sent a letter to staff suggesting it would go into administration, in the biggest retailing collapse since Woolworths.
The letter said the directors had taken the decision after being ‘unable to secure a funder or a trade sale’ despite ‘a massive effort from the team’, on what was described as ‘very, very had to turn around,’ according to the Financial Times.
Retail tycoon Sir Philip Green sold BHS, once part of the Arcadia Group, to the Retail Acquisitions consortium for £1 last year.
In March this year KPMG worked with BHS on company voluntary arrangement (CVA) proposals designed to help the retailer negotiate reduced rent demands from the landlords of its 164 stores.
BHS had been in talks with Sports Direct to sell some of its stores, but these did not progress, while potential buyers were understood to be concerned about the chain’s £571m pension deficit.
The letter indicated that Duff & Phelps would be appointed as administrators. BHS has made no formal comment, and nor has Duff & Phelps.
