Sir Philip Green may at last have done the right thing by deciding to chip in a not insignificant £363 million to the BHS pension fund.
The retail magnate, vilified for having the audacity to own a yacht and for displaying his wealth in a most un-British way, Sir Philip Green took over the role of the ‘unacceptable face of capitalism’ (previous held by Tiny Rowlands) and has been tabloid and broadsheet fodder over his 2015 sale of BHS to the fantasist Dominic Chappell, under whose brief tenure the business was bled dry and closed down.
Green will pay cash to settle the pension shortfall and now gives the 20,000 pension scheme members a degree of choice over their pension arrangements.
Sir Philip promised to “sort” the BHS pension deficit in 2016 when hauled before a Commons committee last year and attacked by long time enemy, MP Frank Fields who accused Green of being "evil towards workers."
Calls for Sir Philip to become Mr Green once again reached fever pitch with plenty of media coverage with pictures of Green’s £100m Italian-built yacht, Lionheart, in a media campaign to strip him of his Knighthood.
The BHS pension deficit would have been covered by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) which is funded by many of Britain’s businesses, not the government as the media has the public believe, which would have reduced pensions by 10% for those yet to retire.
The Pensions Regulator and Sir Philip Green have come to a figure and pensioners can either transfer their pensions to a PPF-backed fund, those eligible with the smallest pension pots will be able to withdraw their savings as a lump sum to be invested elsewhere or they can move their pension to a new scheme administered by new trustees.
The new scheme will avoid the 10% cut that would have been levied by the PPF on new retirees, but some of the benefits of the original BHS scheme will be lost as the annual increases are likely to be less.
Sir Philip said the deal was a “significantly better outcome” for BHS staff than entering a PPF scheme. “I hope that this solution puts their minds at rest and closes this sorry chapter for them,” he added.
The deal is being hailed as a victory for the Pensions Regulator, which took its time in working out a deal with Green who said he has always been willing and able to sort out the mess created last June.
BHS went into administration in April last year, leaving 11,000 people out of work and highlighting a hole in the pension fund.
Sir Philip owned the 164 shop retail chain between 2000 and 2015 and sold it to Chappell for £1 amid some legal but nifty property deals that ensured Green nd his wife had benefitted from owning BHS, which was seen as a lame duck, and so it proved to be.
