A FORMER BHS employee has called on the chain's previous owner Sir Philip Green to "express his regret in a more tangible way" and sell his yacht to ensure staff members' pensions are secure.
Lin Macmillan, of Bo'Ness, West Lothian, spoke out after the company's administrator failed to find a buyer for the high street giant, leaving up to 11,000 jobs at risk, including 800 in Scotland.
Stores, 16 of which are north of the Border, may be sold off individually, but employees do not know whether their jobs will go after BHS fell into administration in April, leaving behind a £571 million pensions black hole.
Ms Macmillan, 61, is running an online petition calling on Sir Philip, who sold BHS to former bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1, to make up any shortfall in the pension pot.
As a secured creditor to the company, Sir Philip's Arcardia potentially stands to rake in a further £35m from the wind-down and former City minister Lord Myners has also urged him to pass on that money for the benefit of current and former BHS employees.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Ms MacMillan said it was very difficult for employees to contemplate losing their jobs and that she had spoken to one in an Edinburgh store who had been with the firm for more than 40 years.
She said she was keen for Sir Philip to sell a yacht to protect worker's pensions.
Referring to the businessman's statement that he was "saddened and disappointed" with the news the chain would leave the high street, she said: "I would like him to express his regret in a more tangible way.
"I think he has a moral responsibility to do it. Whether he will or not is up to him."
Ms Macmillan, a former charity secretary, worked in a BHS managerial role in both Aberdeen and Lincoln during the 1980s but was prompted to act when it became apparent how many employees, past and present, stand to lose out because of the state of the company's pension pot.
She launched her petition "Sell the yachts and pay the pensions" in April.
In her introduction to the petition, which has garnered more than 100 signatures, she said: "We seek justice for the staff and pensioners of BHS. We call on Philip Green and his family to bail out the pension fund which currently has a deficit of £571m."
It had been hoped that administrator Duff & Phelps would be able to accept one of the last-ditch offers for the chain from Mothercare boss Greg Tufnell or Mike Ashley's Sports Direct.
But the firm announced on Thursday that the business would be wound down and all BHS's shops closed and sold off to other retailers.
Duff & Phelps added that 8,000 permanent jobs were likely to be lost and another 3,000 not directly employed by BHS were also at risk.
Lord Myners, the former Marks and Spencer chairman who is advising a committee of MPs that will grill Sir Philip in the coming weeks over BHS's demise, said he was grateful that the businessman failed in his bid to takeover Marks & Spencer.
He told BBC Radio 4: "Thank goodness he didn't succeed [in taking over M&S]. If he had done, I don't know what would have happened to M&S."
Urged Sir Philip to waive tens of millions he could be set to get from BHS's collapse, Lord Myners said: "He could give up that security and make sure the money is used for the benefit of the employees and pensioners and not claim to be in the front of the queue."
Simon Walker, head of the Institute of Directors (IoD), accused Sir Philip of a "lamentable failure of behaviour".
He said: "We spend a lot of time agonising about the loss of trust in the business community, and I think we can see why this is. I think there is a lamentable failure of behaviour and there are a lot of questions that need to be asked."
"You can't just get yourself off the hook by selling a business to someone who's been bankrupt three times and is a former racing driver with no retail experience."
BHS leaves behind a £571 million pensions black hole, with the scheme set to enter the Pension Protection Fund. The Pensions Regulator is investigating whether Sir Philip will be made to make contributions to the pension scheme.
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