Ex-BHS staff take pension pot hit as MPs call on Sir Philip Green to plug the £300m black hole
MPs are calling for Sir Philip Green to step in and help the 20,000 ex-employees
THOUSANDS of former BHS staff have already taken a pension hit.
The news emerged as MPs again called on Sir Philip Green to plug the £300million black hole.
Some 1,600 over 60s who used to work at BHS have lost 10 per cent of their retirement pots just months after the chain collapsed.
Around 4,000 over 65s who have already taken retirement are protected for now.
But the taxpayer-backed Pension Protection Fund now charged with shoring up the scheme says all 20,000 former employees will suffer as they cannot afford to pay them inflation-linked increases each year.
The Commons Work and Pensions Committee said most of the staff only have pension pots worth less than £18,000. The annual payouts will be “far less” than that.
The figures come amid speculation Sir Philip is close to reaching a deal to plug the £300 million shortfall in the scheme with pension regulators.
Labour campaigner Frank Field said there were no more excuses. Yesteday’s report marked six months to the day since Sir Philip vowed to “sort” the shortfall.
Mr Field said: “As we go into Christmas we know that 1,600 of the BHS pensioners are already feeling a 10 per cent cut in the returns they were promised on their life savings.
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“I would like to ask, on behalf of the BHS pensioners: Sir Philip, what have you sorted?
“What a fantastic Christmas gift it would be to the 20,000 pensioners counting on Sir Philip if we were to keep that promise now.”
A spokesman for Sir Philip Green declined to comment last night.
The billionaire - famed for taking TopShop around the world- offered to pump at least £250 million into the fund last month. The Pensions Regulator has warned it could take months to resolve the shortfall.
Sir Philip bought BHS in 2000 for £200 million. It collapsed this year - 12 months after he sold it for £1 to a twice bankrupt entrepreneur.