Sir Philip Green has pledged to pay up to £363m into the BHS pension pot, having promised to ‘sort’ the retailer’s shortfall in a parliamentary inquiry last year
MPs investigated Green’s sale of BHS to former bankrupt Dominic Chappell’s vehicle Retail Acquisitions for £1, after the £571m hole in the pension scheme was discovered. Administrators from Duff & Phelps confirmed the orderly wind down of the retailer and its 163 stores in June 2016.
Before the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) committee in June 2016, Green said he would contribute towards closing the deficit, and negotiations with the Pensions Regulator (PR) and Pension Protection Fund (PPF) subsequently took place.
In a statement released today (28 February 2017), Green said his contribution of ‘up to £363m’ would ‘enable the trustees of the BHS Pension schemes to achieve a ‘significantly better outcome’ than the schemes entering the Pension Protection Fund, which was the ‘goal from the outset’.
‘The settlement follows lengthy, complex discussions with the PR and the PPF, both of which are satisfied with the solution that has been offered,’ he added. ‘To achieve a significantly better outcome than entering the PPF, the contribution required to achieve this long-term solution was arrived at by the actuaries for both the regulator and the trustees.
‘All relevant notices, including legal matters and claims from PR, have been withdrawn bringing this matter to a conclusion.
‘Once again I would like to apologise to the BHS pensioners for this last year of uncertainty, which was clearly never the intention when the business was sold in March 2015.
‘I am also happy to confirm that any of the pensioners that have faced cuts over the last year will now be brought back to their original BHS starting level pension and will all be made whole.
‘I hope that this solution puts their minds at rest and closes this sorry chapter for them.’
The Pensions Regulator chief executive Lesley Titcomb said: "The agreement we have reached with Sir Philip Green represents a strong outcome for the members of the BHS pension schemes. It takes account of the interests of both pensioners and the PPF, and brings a welcome level of certainty to present and future pensioners.’
