Phil Green agrees to pay £363m towards BHS pension black hole after retail giant collapsed 13 months after he sold it for £1 to a former bankrupt
Collapse of the high-street firm resulted in the closure of 164 stores and the loss of 11,000 jobs
SHAMED Sir Philip Green yesterday agreed to pay £363million into the BHS pension black hole.
The Topshop tycoon, 64, — blasted for the chain going bust — finally stumped up after MPs and watchdogs declared war on him.
The sum is £208million short of the £571million the fund is in deficit after he flogged BHS for a quid to a serial bankrupt.
MP Frank Field said of the billionaire’s offer to the Pensions Regulator over 19,000 staff left in the lurch: “It’s not justice but it is a milestone.”
He said a lot of other issues remained to be solved.
But Green, who many MPs want stripped of his knighthood, said he hoped the deal would close a sorry chapter.
He said: “Once again I would like to apologise to the BHS pensioners for this last year of uncertainty.”
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Critics said the threat of losing his title forced him to cave in.
Labour MP David Winnick hailed parliamentary and public pressure for the tycoon reluctantly coughing up.
Green, who is accused of milking BHS before offloading it, is thought to have originally offered just £80million.
After months of negotiations he upped it to £250million in November.
The £363million comes after three more months of intense wrangling.
John Hannett, of shopworkers’ union Usdaw, described it as welcome, if not long overdue news.
Ex-pensions minister Sir Steven Webb said the tycoon could have spared staff many months of misery and uncertainty.
The former Lib Dem MP said Sir Philip should have “stumped up the cash willingly rather than only after many months of protracted negotiations”.
Last night BHS pensioners were warned they could still lose out.
Investment firm AJ Bell said that cuts to inflation protection meant they could get on average 88 per cent of what they should be owed.