SIR Philip Green, the former owner of stricken retailer BHS, has been branded a “conman” by a Scottish peer and accused of milking the company dry.
The outspoken attack by Lord McFall of Alcluith, the former Labour MP, who chaired the powerful House of Commons Treasury committee for nine years, came during a House of Lords debate on the economy.
Calling for a review of the 2006 Companies Act, which underpins company law in the UK, he told peers: “In the same week that Philip Green has taken ownership of a £100 million yacht - after milking BHS dry - 11,000 workers in BHS stores have lost their jobs with many suffering the loss of their pension and others supported by the taxpayer through the Pension Protection Fund.”
He went on: “The establishment of the Pension Protection Fund was not for the benefit of conmen. It was not for the benefit of people who inherited a surplus pension fund and then denuded it and took £500 million to £600 million out of the company. That is not how fair corporate governance should be practised in the United Kingdom and the Government need to do something about it.
“We are witnessing the extraction of maximum value from a company with no regard for anyone else with an interest; employees, the community or stakeholders. That is in need of urgent change.”
Sir Philip, the Monaco-based tycoon, bought BHS for £200 million in 2000. He and his family received £586m in dividends, rental payments and interest on loans before he sold the company last year for just £1.
The demise of BHS, founded in 1928, has been described as the “dark side of capitalism”. MPs have called for Sir Philip to be stripped of his knighthood, bestowed in 2006 for services to retail.
During the Lords debate, Lord McFall referred to the collapse in 2008 of HBOS, the Edinburgh-based bank, taken over by Lloyds, which was bailed out to the tune of more than £20 billion by the taxpayer.
The peer pointed out that the HBOS files showed Sir Philip was a recipient of the bank’s largesse.
“He received personal loans of well over £1bn, so he was able to buy up companies, milk them and move on because we had a bank that was clueless about corporate governance.”
Lord McFall added: “The link-up between good corporate governance in a company and how our banks behave is illustrated by this particular point. It really is beyond parody that, a couple of years ago, the Government asked Philip Green to review government spending and procurement. I hope that they lock away his conclusions.”
The Commons business committee has joined the work and pensions committee in announcing an inquiry into BHS. Its members will examine the sale and acquisition of BHS. MPs on the work and pensions committee are to examine the £571m black hole in the company’s pension fund.
Sir Philip, 64, is expected to be called to give evidence.
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