0:00:06 > 0:00:07S
0:00:07 > 0:00:10The collapse of BHS - S branded the unacceptable
0:00:10 > 0:00:12face of capitalism.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14I'm saying Philip, because he should not be Sir Philip,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18because he's shafted us all, hasn't he?
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Envy and jealousy my doctor told me are incurable diseases.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25I've done nothing wrong.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29There's still no deal in sight for the BHS pensioners.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33Cut the crap and actually start delivering to them.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Sir Philip Green's under scrutiny and under pressure.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39He was a bully.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41The deal was open ended.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44The deal is not a deal.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47It's a scandal that's tarnished the reputation of British business.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Would you give it back?
0:00:49 > 0:00:52No, I have no intention of giving that money back.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57We hear from the man whose bid to save BHS was turned down.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01I was 100% convinced, with the backing I had, we could put a
0:01:01 > 0:01:03credible offer to Sir Philip.
0:01:03 > 0:01:09We discover special payments for favoured BHS staff.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12The people at the bottom end, who do the hard work,
0:01:12 > 0:01:18generate the profit, always get left behind.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21As Parliament prepares to debate the demise of BHS, we ask:
0:01:21 > 0:01:26How was it allowed to happen?
0:01:45 > 0:01:49This summer in an Italian port, the finishing touches were being put
0:01:49 > 0:01:54to ?100 million yacht.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57The owner, Lady Green, was checking every designer detail,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00as her husband was being grilled in Parliament about
0:02:00 > 0:02:03the collapse of BHS.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05I don't tell lies.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07You can probe them all you like.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09I'm not hiding.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11I can't answer you.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Sir, do you mind not looking at me like that all the time.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16It's really disturbing.
0:02:16 > 0:02:22It didn't stop the Greens enjoying a nine-week cruise in the Med.
0:02:22 > 0:02:28I made a very different journey to Liverpool.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Like many high streets in Britain, it's dominated
0:02:30 > 0:02:34by Sir Philip's brands.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39The biggest of them was BHS.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44Well, the BHS store may not be one of the city's architectural gems,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47but it's long held a very special place in the heart and
0:02:47 > 0:02:54the history of Liverpool.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58BHS has been in Liverpool since the 1950s.
0:02:58 > 0:03:07Some families have worked here for generations.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10I think my proudest moment, if you like, is when I
0:03:10 > 0:03:20was made the general manager of BHS Liverpool.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22It's a company with a logo, but your consumer,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25we're the face of BHS.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28We have always made BHS and what BHS has stood for.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31This was a summer of leaving parties, in Liverpool
0:03:31 > 0:03:34and across the country, as staff prepared to close
0:03:34 > 0:03:37their stores for good.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Yeah, blood, sweat and a lot of tears, I know.
0:03:39 > 0:03:46There will be a lot of tears at the end definitely.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49The collapse of BHS with ?500 million hole in the pension fund has
0:03:49 > 0:03:54left many feeling betrayed.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Philip Green, I'm saying Philip, because he should not be Sir Philip,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01the way she's shafted us all, hasn't he?
0:04:01 > 0:04:03And doesn't think he's done anything wrong.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06That's what I can't understand.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Things have changed for Sir Philip.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Knighted for his services to retail, he once hobnobbed
0:04:13 > 0:04:16with royalty and showbiz stars.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Go away.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Now he's under pressure, like never before.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26He has the mannerisms of a wide boy.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29He's very determined.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Lots of use of expletives.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34You have to accept if you do business with Philip he's
0:04:34 > 0:04:37going to call you some pretty unpleasant things and to
0:04:37 > 0:04:40be quite aggressive.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Before he bought BHS, Sir Philip's flamboyant
0:04:42 > 0:04:46style had mixed results.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48The young entrepreneur's jeans venture, endorsed
0:04:48 > 0:04:53by Joan Collins, failed.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56At retailer and public company, Amber Day, he clashed with
0:04:56 > 0:04:59shareholders and the board.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02He had to leave.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06It was a lesson for Philip Green.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09When he acquired BHS in 2000, he took it private.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11He would no longer be accountable to shareholders.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16Great value, good quality.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19The much-loved British institution had been in trouble.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Within two years, he was claiming a dramatic turnaround.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24I want to win on the High Street.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26It's not about making money.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30It's about getting it right.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32In the first four years, it looked like he was getting it right.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34BHS was making money again.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Profits of ?208 million.
0:05:38 > 0:05:44But twice that much, over ?400 million was
0:05:44 > 0:05:46paid out in dividends.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51?307 million went to the Green family, off-shore.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55It ended up in Monaco, a tax haven and magnet
0:05:55 > 0:05:59for the megarich.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03It's home to Philip Green's wife, Tina.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05He loves his job.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07He loves his family.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09I started with him.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11I've been with him for 25 years.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14So, we came from nothing and from very humble beginnings.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16He's still a very humble man today.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I love that about him, because he is a very humble man.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Yes, he has a big roar, and yes, he has a big personality,
0:06:23 > 0:06:30you know, without that, there's no Philip Green.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33When BHS went under, MPs wanted to understand the Greens'
0:06:33 > 0:06:40complex financial affairs.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45So when it says in the accounts, "P Green and his immediate family
0:06:45 > 0:06:48are the ultimate controlling party," what does that refer to?
0:06:48 > 0:06:50I'm not the shareholder or beneficiary.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52I don't have any shares.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54This is your wife then?
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Yes.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58She has the accounts, you don't?
0:06:58 > 0:07:03I've never had an overseas bank account.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Sir Philip ran BHS but it was his wife, Lady Green,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10who ultimately owned it.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13I think Lady Green's role was a simple but
0:07:13 > 0:07:16incredibly fruitful role.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Because the actual ownership was with Lady Green
0:07:18 > 0:07:21they were able to escape taxes.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26I think there's no question that the person that pulls
0:07:26 > 0:07:29everybody's strings and the Napoleon in the sense of this whole farce
0:07:29 > 0:07:33is Sir Philip Green himself.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Philip Green is a man who likes to be in control.
0:07:37 > 0:07:45I think that is maybe not strong enough.
0:07:48 > 0:07:55I went to meet someone who knows him well and who worked with him at BHS.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Philip is a bit abrasive at times, but really intense.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02A guy who absolutely knows what he wants,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05how to get it and how to manage a business of that size.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08His family's life, you know, was all invested in that business.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11His mother loved the stores.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13His daughter worked in the stores.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16I can remember Chloe being behind the tills at BHS.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Philip Green saved that company.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21The intensity of work that went into those first three
0:08:21 > 0:08:25years and beyond there.
0:08:25 > 0:08:33But Parliament had a different take on the BHS success story.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38Despite the growth in profits, sales had stayed roughly the same.
0:08:38 > 0:08:44Sir Philip made money by driving down costs and squeezing suppliers.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48He widened the margins through being very aggressive on his sourcing,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50driving for the very lowest cost of goods.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53It's running the business not with a ten-year view,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55but with a two or three-year view.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59He was very good at doing that.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03A number of BHS suppliers told us they felt the squeeze.
0:09:03 > 0:09:09Carol Duncumb says, for her, it was particularly uncomfortable.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12In 2003, her business had agreed a ?5 million contract with BHS.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Some stock had even been delivered.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21Then Philip Green summoned her to his London headquarters.
0:09:21 > 0:09:27I was left with a couple of his senior henchmen.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32They were very direct in their message to me,
0:09:32 > 0:09:37which was that if we weren't prepared to write a cheque
0:09:37 > 0:09:41back to Philip Green, back to BHS, then we would have
0:09:41 > 0:09:43to consider our options, which meant essentially
0:09:43 > 0:09:48cancelling the order book.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Losing the rest of the multimillion pound order would have left
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Carol's company in trouble.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57She wrote a cheque for ?100,000.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01She then went to look for Philip Green.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04I told him I was disgusted by the way I'd been treated.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06What did he say to that?
0:10:06 > 0:10:13He laughed.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16That resulted in fairly heavy words between the two of us.
0:10:16 > 0:10:25And what did that incident tell you about Sir Philip Green?
0:10:25 > 0:10:28He was a bully, that a deal was open ended.
0:10:28 > 0:10:35A deal is not a deal.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38A spokesman for Sir Philip said BHS sold ?12 billion worth of goods.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41It's unreasonable to expect a comment on one possible
0:10:41 > 0:10:46dispute over ?100,000.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51But there's one supplier who was much closer to Sir Philip.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55Richard Caring, his equally well connected friend.
0:10:55 > 0:11:03His company supplied women's wear to BHS.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Richard has a number of factories, I think, himself, he was able to get
0:11:07 > 0:11:09cost prices that we needed as we expanded the business.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14Any business, when you start up, it was pretty much a start up,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17when Sir Philip took over BHS, you need a supply
0:11:17 > 0:11:20base you can rely on.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23But other suppliers suspected there was more to the relationship
0:11:23 > 0:11:27between Sir Philip and Richard Caring.
0:11:27 > 0:11:33His name cropped up a lot from buyers and buying directors.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37He certainly seemed to have quite a bit of interest in what other
0:11:37 > 0:11:40suppliers into BHS were doing.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43What no-one knew back then was that Richard Caring was more
0:11:43 > 0:11:49than just a supplier.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53In 2001, he bought a stake in BHS for ?10 million.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57He got 22% of the business.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02His investment only became public last year.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07MPs wanted to know why it had stayed hidden for so long.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12Mr Caring told them his stake was kept quiet in case other BHS
0:12:12 > 0:12:15suppliers might think they had an advantage over them, by seeing
0:12:15 > 0:12:18their product lines and prices.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23At the time, it didn't stop Carol Duncumb having her suspicions.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26It was possible that Richard's businesses were
0:12:26 > 0:12:29cross-costing against ours.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32What does that mean?
0:12:32 > 0:12:35That they were looking at what we were supplying,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38looking at the garment, the design and the costing.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Richard Caring told us there was nothing inappropriate
0:12:40 > 0:12:43about his arrangement with BHS and that he sold his share
0:12:43 > 0:12:48in the company years before it got into trouble.
0:12:48 > 0:12:55By then, Richard Caring had already done very well out of BHS.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57By 2006, he'd received ?93 million in dividends, nine
0:12:57 > 0:13:07times what he put in.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09When Lady Green bought BHS the Greens got much more
0:13:09 > 0:13:13than a retail business.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16They got a portfolio of valuable properties too.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20It was another opportunity to make money.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23What the people who worked here at BHS in Liverpool didn't know
0:13:23 > 0:13:28is that Sir Philip Green had sold the store.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32It was one of a group of prime sites hived off to his own wife.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35It would earn the Greens tens of millions of pounds and bring them
0:13:35 > 0:13:41huge tax advantages.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43The money washed up off-shore in another tax haven,
0:13:43 > 0:13:50this time in Jersey.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Ten BHS properties were sold to another of Lady Green's
0:13:55 > 0:13:59companies, which was based here for ?106 million.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05She then charged BHS rent for them.
0:14:05 > 0:14:15Over the next 15 years, Lady Green collected ?153 million.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20By making sure the rents came off-shore here to Jersey,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23Lady Green reduced her tax bill.
0:14:23 > 0:14:29At the same time, because it was paying rents,
0:14:29 > 0:14:35BHS back in the UK, made less profits, so it too paid less tax.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37He could reduce the tax payable in the UK to a point
0:14:37 > 0:14:40when there was almost no tax at all.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42All perfectly legal.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Absolutely legal.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Good business practice?
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Legal.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Good business practice?
0:14:50 > 0:14:52That must be judged against the context
0:14:52 > 0:14:55of what you're seeking to do.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57Soon, Sir Philip was parading his latest acquisition,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01top model Kate Moss.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04She was the new face of Topshop ? part of the Arcadia Group
0:15:04 > 0:15:07the Greens bought in 2002.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11Banks had been happy to lend money off the back of Sir Philip's
0:15:11 > 0:15:17apparent success at BHS.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Arcadia's profits improved too.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Lady Green, the ultimate owner, took another dividend tax-free ?
0:15:25 > 0:15:35a massive ?1.3 billion.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Arcadia's parent company bought BHS in 2009.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43By now, the high street was changing.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46When you have a heavy discounter like Primark
0:15:46 > 0:15:49in the arena, you have to either follow it down
0:15:49 > 0:15:51or change your business model, and you cannot change your
0:15:51 > 0:15:55business model overnight.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56Increasingly, BHS became a poor shopping experience
0:15:56 > 0:15:59for the consumer.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01It lacked focus as to what it actually
0:16:01 > 0:16:04was, finally.
0:16:04 > 0:16:11It felt underinvested and underloved.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Sir Philip has said even after BHS stopped making profits,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Arcadia still invested ?600 million.
0:16:19 > 0:16:25It didn't feel like it in Stockport.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Anne Bostock joined BHS when she was 16.
0:16:28 > 0:16:34She met her husband here.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36The roof leaked. It was never fixed.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40Most of the tills weren't working.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43If we wanted anything painting, there was no company to come
0:16:43 > 0:16:47in and paint it for you, staff had to do that.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51We had to all muck in and do all sorts of things,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53not just what you were paid to do.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56You had to do the extra mile
0:16:56 > 0:17:01to look after things and keep things going.
0:17:01 > 0:17:07Arcadia kept BHS afloat.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Sir Philip told Parliament he only considered getting rid
0:17:09 > 0:17:13of it two years ago.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16What was the point that you started to think about selling BHS?
0:17:16 > 0:17:24When did that first occur?
0:17:24 > 0:17:27I would probably say about 14.
0:17:27 > 0:17:282014?
0:17:28 > 0:17:34Yes.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38But seven years earlier, profits at BHS were stalling.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43And there were rumours then in the City that Sir Philip
0:17:43 > 0:17:46was thinking about selling BHS to his own non-executive
0:17:46 > 0:17:49chairman.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Sir Philip's spokesman told us every business gets
0:17:51 > 0:17:55approached from time to time.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58But there was no sale process and nothing happened.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01But we've discovered there was more to it.
0:18:01 > 0:18:07Sir Philip even named his price.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12We understand Sir Philip wanted half a billion pounds for BHS.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15His own chief financial officer came here to bankers Goldman Sachs
0:18:15 > 0:18:19to discuss the possible sale.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22But "Project Bungalow", as it was codenamed, went no further.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25When we then asked Sir Philip's spokesman
0:18:25 > 0:18:28about the meeting at Goldman Sachs, he said there had been
0:18:28 > 0:18:31an approach via the bank.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33The talks happened as a hole was appearing
0:18:33 > 0:18:39in the BHS pension fund.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42The deficit went from ?7 million in 2006 to ?233 million
0:18:42 > 0:18:43six years later.
0:18:43 > 0:18:53It was made worse by the financial crash.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Arcadia had been propping up BHS.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02Finally, Sir Philip decided it couldn't go on.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Who would buy a failing high street giant with a black hole
0:19:04 > 0:19:08in the pension fund?
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Out here in the Dorset countryside, there was one would-be entrepreneur
0:19:12 > 0:19:22who thought he could be the answer to Sir Philip's prayers.
0:19:22 > 0:19:28That man was Dominic Chappell, a former racing driver.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I had no experience of retail whatsoever,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34but what we had done was, we'd amassed
0:19:34 > 0:19:39a number of people who were very skilled at retail,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41and the retail business, and also, we were buying
0:19:41 > 0:19:43into the management of BHS and we were backing
0:19:43 > 0:19:45that management to take the company forward.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47The man himself, though, didn't have much of a track
0:19:47 > 0:19:51record in business.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53You were a bankrupt?
0:19:53 > 0:19:55That's right, six years prior to that I worked
0:19:55 > 0:19:57as an entrepreneur and that goes with the territory,
0:19:57 > 0:19:58it's a risk that we take.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00You were twice bankrupt?
0:20:00 > 0:20:01That's right.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04And did Sir Philip Green know that you were bankrupt?
0:20:04 > 0:20:05Yes.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07But there was another offer ? from someone
0:20:07 > 0:20:08who knew BHS inside out.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Tony Brown to the ground floor, please.
0:20:11 > 0:20:20Tony Brown, the former BHS retail director.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22He'd moved on to run other big stores.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25This is the first time he's spoken about his bid for BHS.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28I knew BHS, and I'd given it a lot of thought.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33I knew the problems it was having, I knew some of the things that
0:20:33 > 0:20:35were working and weren't working because I still had contacts
0:20:35 > 0:20:37inside the business.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39And I was 100% convinced with the backing that I had
0:20:39 > 0:20:42that we could put a credible offer to Sir Philip.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Mr Brown said he would only buy if Sir Philip put more money
0:20:45 > 0:20:50into BHS to help it survive.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55Sir Philip turned his deal down in favour of Mr Chappell's.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57It was clearly wasn't as attractive to Sir Philip as Chappell's.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Why wasn't it as attractive?
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Erm, it would have cost him more to do my deal.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03How much more?
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Probably about 100 million more.
0:21:05 > 0:21:11So it was significantly less attractive.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Dominic Chappell said he could put up ?120 million,
0:21:13 > 0:21:14but didn't deliver.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19Sir Philip sorted it.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21He wrote off ?200 million of debt while leaving
0:21:21 > 0:21:25a ?40 million loan in place.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28He guaranteed a further ?25 million loan.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Then he put in another ?10m.
0:21:31 > 0:21:41And so BHS was sold.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Why was Dominic Chapell built up?
0:21:46 > 0:21:49I think it was a real wish to, now the assets have been ripped
0:21:49 > 0:21:53out of BHS, to be able to dump the pension fund, and therefore
0:21:53 > 0:21:56it was necessary to have somebody who is naive enough not to realise
0:21:56 > 0:22:04what they were walking into.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07As the Greens cracked open the champagne last summer,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09the deal had already prompted an investigation
0:22:09 > 0:22:15by the pension fund regulator.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Neither Sir Philip Green nor Dominic Chappell had sorted out
0:22:18 > 0:22:24the pension deficit.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29The regulator wanted to know how much Sir Philip had taken out
0:22:29 > 0:22:31of the business to gauge what detrimental effect this had
0:22:31 > 0:22:32had on the business.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36Philip wouldn't give them that information.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38A spokesman for Sir Philip says information about BHS
0:22:38 > 0:22:42was publicly available.
0:22:42 > 0:22:49Dominic Chappell failed to turn the business around.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Sir Philip Green called in his loan. That was the end for BHS.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56He said "Fine, that's it, I'm not putting any more money
0:22:56 > 0:22:59into this, it's going to go bust anyway because we can't
0:22:59 > 0:23:00sort out the pension.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02I'm going to pull the pin", and that's what he did.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05I said "It's completely out of order, Philip, this is absolutely
0:23:05 > 0:23:06ridiculous."
0:23:06 > 0:23:10He said, "That's show business".
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Dominic Chappell and his company took ?11 million out
0:23:13 > 0:23:17of BHS in fees and salaries in just a year.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19The Select Committee were very clear that you personally enriched
0:23:19 > 0:23:23yourself at the expense of British Home Stores.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26I personally have got a lot of expenses, so the money I took
0:23:26 > 0:23:28from British Home Stores is totally justified because of
0:23:28 > 0:23:31the work and the effort that we put in when we did it.
0:23:31 > 0:23:32And how much is it?
0:23:32 > 0:23:34It's over a million.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36And that money should go back to the pensioners, shouldn't it?
0:23:36 > 0:23:37I mean, there's...
0:23:37 > 0:23:38No.
0:23:38 > 0:23:39..A huge deficit there.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41And would you give it back?
0:23:41 > 0:23:47No, I have no intention of giving that money back.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52Across the country, 164 BHS stores went bust.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54After 60 years of trading, Liverpool's BHS finally
0:23:54 > 0:23:59shut down in August.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03The pension fund was still in dire straits.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Sir Philip has yet to do his bit to put it right.
0:24:07 > 0:24:17BHS pensioners are counting the cost.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20I've got two pensions.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23One's gone down to ?7, which was near enough ?10,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27and one's gone down to 80-something
0:24:27 > 0:24:30which was 102, so it's not a lot, but it's still...
0:24:30 > 0:24:31It's still a loss?
0:24:31 > 0:24:33It's a lot when you add it together.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36But for a select few at BHS, we'd heard there'd been
0:24:36 > 0:24:42efforts to soften the blow,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45special payments for staff losing their jobs at head office in London.
0:24:45 > 0:24:52We've been told around 200 staff at BHS headquarters
0:24:52 > 0:24:55received what they called a "Philip bonus,
0:24:55 > 0:25:00in total more than ?2 million.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03At first, Sir Philip's spokesman told us Arcadia funded
0:25:03 > 0:25:05some ex gratia payments to help retain staff
0:25:05 > 0:25:10as the administrator looked for a buyer.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13But we knew staff were only told they were getting the payments
0:25:13 > 0:25:15after no buyer was found.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18At that point, Sir Philip's spokesman said payment
0:25:18 > 0:25:25may have been delayed.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29Sir Philip's generosity to a select few at head office
0:25:29 > 0:25:35didn't extend to the likes of Anne and Keith in Stockport.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39It doesn't surprise me, because the higher up
0:25:39 > 0:25:42you are, the better looked after you are.
0:25:42 > 0:25:48It's the people on the bottom end who do the hard work
0:25:48 > 0:25:53at the sharp end, the coal face, whatever, who actually make the firm
0:25:53 > 0:25:57work and generate the profit, always get left behind.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Anne and Keith have spent the last few
0:25:59 > 0:26:04months looking for work.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Well, the future's, it's uncertain, as they say.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10We don't know what's happening, I mean...
0:26:10 > 0:26:12We've still got a mortgage to pay and we've still got
0:26:12 > 0:26:14the bills to pay.
0:26:14 > 0:26:21The couple are in no doubt who's to blame.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25You know, he's got his nice yachts and stuff...
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Our holiday was very different, but nice.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29It was a week in a caravan.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31He thinks his family's got all the money
0:26:31 > 0:26:36and everything, but it'll come back to bite him on the bum.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38There are three investigations now looking
0:26:38 > 0:26:42into what happened at BHS.
0:26:42 > 0:26:49And there are calls for Sir Philip to be stripped of his knighthood.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Lionheart's summer cruise is long over.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58The money, however, is still rolling in.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03The loan financing the sale of BHS from one of Lady Green's companies
0:27:03 > 0:27:10to another is still earning them ?20 million a year.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15I'd like him to do what he said all along, that he has regarded
0:27:15 > 0:27:19the BHS staff as family, he feels this bond to the pensioners,
0:27:19 > 0:27:25to cut the crap and actually start delivering to them.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27The Prime Minister has vowed to stamp out
0:27:27 > 0:27:32irresponsible corporate behaviour.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36But four months after the collapse of BHS, there's still no sign
0:27:36 > 0:27:39of a cheque for the stricken pension fund from the owners
0:27:39 > 0:27:49of the Lionheart.