Bye Bye BHS and Austin Reed?
Discussion
Welshbeef said:
Who will replace BHS? More gaps on the high street more coffee shops?
If we take the example of the central Milton Keynes store, the size, layout and location is ripe for a Primark or a Wilkinson. Indeed, Primark have been in advanced plans with the council to demolish the market stalls opposite the bhs to build a whole new section of centre mk just to house a primark store, but naturally the market stall holders have been fighting this as disruptive to their livelihood.If primark were to takeover the lease of the bhs instead, it would avoid the pain of displacing all of the market stall holders and negate the need for building work.
The head of the Institute of Directors has laid into Philip Green over the collapse of BHS.
BBC News said:
Mr Walker said: "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."
He acknowledged that "BHS was probably going to fail anyway", but added: "It's the manner of its failure and the fact that it ends up dumping huge liabilities on to the taxpayer that is a problem, and it is the lack of due diligence in selling it (to Mr Chappell)... something's wrong".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36442398He acknowledged that "BHS was probably going to fail anyway", but added: "It's the manner of its failure and the fact that it ends up dumping huge liabilities on to the taxpayer that is a problem, and it is the lack of due diligence in selling it (to Mr Chappell)... something's wrong".
eltawater said:
C&A closed 15 years ago, and were arguably already losing ground to BHS at that point, who have subsequently lost ground to Next, H&M, Debenhams etc. There's a lot of choice on the high street now between those stores and the likes of Zara, House of Fraser, Primark, Peacocks etc. That's before you even consider the patrons of ASOS and Vertbaudet who shop online.
C&A only closed their stores in the UK, they are still a big organisation across Europe.eltawater said:
Welshbeef said:
Who will replace BHS? More gaps on the high street more coffee shops?
If we take the example of the central Milton Keynes store, the size, layout and location is ripe for a Primark or a Wilkinson. Indeed, Primark have been in advanced plans with the council to demolish the market stalls opposite the bhs to build a whole new section of centre mk just to house a primark store, but naturally the market stall holders have been fighting this as disruptive to their livelihood.If primark were to takeover the lease of the bhs instead, it would avoid the pain of displacing all of the market stall holders and negate the need for building work.
rohrl said:
The head of the Institute of Directors has laid into Philip Green over the collapse of BHS.
The whole affair stinks to high heaven, not saying anything illegal has occurred but it's sharp practice at best and won't do his image any good if he cares about that. BBC News said:
Mr Walker said: "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."
He acknowledged that "BHS was probably going to fail anyway", but added: "It's the manner of its failure and the fact that it ends up dumping huge liabilities on to the taxpayer that is a problem, and it is the lack of due diligence in selling it (to Mr Chappell)... something's wrong".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36442398He acknowledged that "BHS was probably going to fail anyway", but added: "It's the manner of its failure and the fact that it ends up dumping huge liabilities on to the taxpayer that is a problem, and it is the lack of due diligence in selling it (to Mr Chappell)... something's wrong".
He'll stick to his line that the guy turned up with money and credible advisors so "who knew?"
Wills2 said:
rohrl said:
The head of the Institute of Directors has laid into Philip Green over the collapse of BHS.
The whole affair stinks to high heaven, not saying anything illegal has occurred but it's sharp practice at best and won't do his image any good if he cares about that. BBC News said:
Mr Walker said: "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."
He acknowledged that "BHS was probably going to fail anyway", but added: "It's the manner of its failure and the fact that it ends up dumping huge liabilities on to the taxpayer that is a problem, and it is the lack of due diligence in selling it (to Mr Chappell)... something's wrong".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36442398He acknowledged that "BHS was probably going to fail anyway", but added: "It's the manner of its failure and the fact that it ends up dumping huge liabilities on to the taxpayer that is a problem, and it is the lack of due diligence in selling it (to Mr Chappell)... something's wrong".
He'll stick to his line that the guy turned up with money and credible advisors so "who knew?"
Morally the whole thing stinks, though legally it's pretty much all above board I'd guess.
And yet, for some time, Green was considered a great success and lauded as such by many - a voice of business and commerce. The Emperor's New Clothes (shop).
Digga said:
Wills2 said:
rohrl said:
The head of the Institute of Directors has laid into Philip Green over the collapse of BHS.
The whole affair stinks to high heaven, not saying anything illegal has occurred but it's sharp practice at best and won't do his image any good if he cares about that. BBC News said:
Mr Walker said: "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."
He acknowledged that "BHS was probably going to fail anyway", but added: "It's the manner of its failure and the fact that it ends up dumping huge liabilities on to the taxpayer that is a problem, and it is the lack of due diligence in selling it (to Mr Chappell)... something's wrong".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36442398He acknowledged that "BHS was probably going to fail anyway", but added: "It's the manner of its failure and the fact that it ends up dumping huge liabilities on to the taxpayer that is a problem, and it is the lack of due diligence in selling it (to Mr Chappell)... something's wrong".
He'll stick to his line that the guy turned up with money and credible advisors so "who knew?"
Morally the whole thing stinks, though legally it's pretty much all above board I'd guess.
And yet, for some time, Green was considered a great success and lauded as such by many - a voice of business and commerce. The Emperor's New Clothes (shop).
t, along with all the staff.Still boat builders are happy.
rohrl said:
The head of the Institute of Directors has laid into Philip Green over the collapse of BHS.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36442398
Yeah right and I bet Green is shaking like a shttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36442398
tting dog over this? He should do the decent thing and do a Maxwell!Ali Chappussy said:
Yeah right and I bet Green is shaking like a stting dog over this? He should do the decent thing and do a Maxwell!
TBH, if I read green correctly, he's driven by a hefty chunk of ego and being the villian - whilst being a bully he may be - is not going to sit well. I'd say his chickens are coming home to roost.tting dog over this? He should do the decent thing and do a Maxwell!Digga said:
Ali Chappussy said:
Yeah right and I bet Green is shaking like a stting dog over this? He should do the decent thing and do a Maxwell!
TBH, if I read green correctly, he's driven by a hefty chunk of ego and being the villain - whilst being a bully he may be - is not going to sit well. I'd say his chickens are coming home to roost.tting dog over this? He should do the decent thing and do a Maxwell!The former owner of BHS sounds like a lovely chap.
"The chief executive of BHS has claimed Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him after he confronted its former owner about £1.5m being moved out of the company."
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/08/b...
"The chief executive of BHS has claimed Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him after he confronted its former owner about £1.5m being moved out of the company."
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/08/b...
I've watched some of the clips today, eye opening stuff, the ex CEO and FD calling him an incompetent liar and thief, then him sitting down like butter wouldn't melt whilst blaming Green, can't wait to hear what he is going to say about that.
My take so far is, Green wanted rid any which way, Chappell is an aggressive chancer who saw an opportunity to line his own pockets and the staff and management have been shafted by the outcome of that.
My take so far is, Green wanted rid any which way, Chappell is an aggressive chancer who saw an opportunity to line his own pockets and the staff and management have been shafted by the outcome of that.
Wills2 said:
I've watched some of the clips today, eye opening stuff, the ex CEO and FD calling him an incompetent liar and thief, then him sitting down like butter wouldn't melt whilst blaming Green, can't wait to hear what he is going to say about that.
My take so far is, Green wanted rid any which way, Chappell is an aggressive chancer who saw an opportunity to line his own pockets and the staff and management have been shafted by the outcome of that.
It's obvious that Chappell was not a fit person to run BHS. That should also have been obvious to Green. He can't absolve himself of all the blame for the collapse of BHS by passing the buck to Chappell. Both Green and Chappell have to share the blame.My take so far is, Green wanted rid any which way, Chappell is an aggressive chancer who saw an opportunity to line his own pockets and the staff and management have been shafted by the outcome of that.
rohrl said:
Wills2 said:
I've watched some of the clips today, eye opening stuff, the ex CEO and FD calling him an incompetent liar and thief, then him sitting down like butter wouldn't melt whilst blaming Green, can't wait to hear what he is going to say about that.
My take so far is, Green wanted rid any which way, Chappell is an aggressive chancer who saw an opportunity to line his own pockets and the staff and management have been shafted by the outcome of that.
It's obvious that Chappell was not a fit person to run BHS. That should also have been obvious to Green. He can't absolve himself of all the blame for the collapse of BHS by passing the buck to Chappell. Both Green and Chappell have to share the blame.My take so far is, Green wanted rid any which way, Chappell is an aggressive chancer who saw an opportunity to line his own pockets and the staff and management have been shafted by the outcome of that.
But it has back fired on him from a PR POV, I read a piece in the Times on Sunday where they quoted the verbal tirade that came from Green when they called for comment on the situation, these guys are barracudas.
Fascinating testimony today from Dominic Chappell to the Select Committee.
Basically he didn't put any of his own money into BHS. He took out a lot though in salary and fees (full amounts yet to be disclosed).
The money injected to boost the cash-flow of the business were loans secured mainly against BHS property.
The real cash flow of the business (ignoring the inflated figures) was barely enough to keep the business afloat for a few weeks.
He thought he could sidestep the pension obligations, but had nothing to properly verify this belief with the Pensions Regulator before he purchased the business.
With the benefit of hindsight it seems destined to fail. However, Sir Philip Green seemed to foresee it at the same....
The following article was written a year ago before BHS went bust. It contains a quote from Philip Green who said (of Dominic Chappell's purchase) when the sale was announced : “If I give you my plane and you tell me you’re a great driver and you crash it into the first f
king mountain, is that my fault?”http://www.pressawards.org.uk/modules/entries/imag...
EddieSteadyGo said:
“If I give you my plane and you tell me you’re a great driver and you crash it into the first fking mountain, is that my fault?”
To which the answer must be "If you know that I have no real experience flying a plane and have been banned from holding a licence three times previously then you certainly have to bear quite a bit of the responsibility."king mountain, is that my fault?”rohrl said:
EddieSteadyGo said:
“If I give you my plane and you tell me you’re a great driver and you crash it into the first fking mountain, is that my fault?”
To which the answer must be "If you know that I have no real experience flying a plane and have been banned from holding a licence three times previously then you certainly have to bear quite a bit of the responsibility."king mountain, is that my fault?”It looks like Green tried to sell the business to a long list of people all of whom balked at the pension liabilities etc.
He eventually got down to someone who had no real capital behind themselves, or experience of retail. And who didn't check properly into the pension liabilities as part of their due diligence.
As one of the MPs mentioned in committee today, it was clear that the business needed significant investment in their stores, as well as sufficient cash reserves to weather the ups and downs whilst the management implemented their recovery plan.
Really they needed a buyer who had circa £120m to inject into the business, in addition to whatever money they raised from the sale of property. This would have given them a proper amount of time to turn things around.
The annoying thing is that Chappell still managed to make a profit on the money he extracted from BHS (and arrange loans to his father of £1.5m) whilst the same time knowing the company was haemorrhaging cash and was about to go under.
rohrl said:
To which the answer must be "If you know that I have no real experience flying a plane and have been banned from holding a licence three times previously then you certainly have to bear quite a bit of the responsibility."
I think this will be the crux of how much poop SPG gets into.Essentially he appears to have made a completely bad faith sale of BHS.
He knew it was a total dog and didn't have the capital to turn it around so sold it to any old muppet he could find while doing his best to hinder proper due diligence (if you believe DC's version of events).
DC is still a gargantuan moron though. I mean - who on earth buys something without checking the pension situation first.
"Here you go Dominic, let's agree that the business is worth £1... +/-£571m depending on whether we include the pensions... Cheers!"
steveT350C said:
Have to wonder if this is some dodgy pre-pack stitching up the staff and suppliers, Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff