Last BHS Stores Close After 88 Years On High Street
The department store chain disappears from the high street as the final 22 stores shut their doors for the last time.
Sunday 28 August 2016 16:02, UK
The last remaining branches of BHS stores vanished from the high street today, ending 88 years of trading across the UK.
Administrators for the department store chain, Duff & Phelps and FRP Advisory, have closed 22 stores, the last of the branches nationwide.
They have already overseen the closure of 141 stores, including BHS's flagship Oxford Street branch in central London.
The retailer's collapse in April has affected 11,000 jobs, 22,000 pensions, sparked a parliamentary inquiry and left its high-profile former owners potentially facing a criminal investigation.
In March 2015, BHS was sold for £1 by Arcadia Group tycoon Sir Philip Green to former bankrupt Dominic Chappell, who in turn called in the receivers in May.
Sir Philip was accused of extracting large sums of money from the firm and failing to resolve a £571m deficit in its pension fund by a Parliamentary inquiry.
In a highly critical report published by MPs last month, Sir Philip was branded the "unacceptable face of capitalism".
Labour MP Frank Field has asked the Serious Fraud Office to launch a formal investigation into both Sir Philip and Mr Chappell to establish whether any criminal wrongdoing occurred during the sale of the chain and throughout their ownerships.
It has also emerged that Mr Field is probing Sir Philip's Arcadia retail empire, which includes Topshop.
Meanwhile, an ally of Sir Philip has told Sky News that the tycoon wants regulators to drop an investigation into BHS's pension deficit if he makes a "voluntary" contribution to the retirement pots of the chain's former employees.
Sir Philip promised to "sort" the deficit when he appeared before MPs in June, although he has since been criticised by parliamentarians over the lack of visible progress.
Frank Field MP, the chairman of the work and pensions select committee, was asked about the potential deal on Sky News.
He said: "In the very first place he could have made a settlement and walked away smelling of roses. He hasn't done that, he's let it drag on, his name is now totally different to what it was before.
"Please God, I hope there'll be a settlement at some stage. Whether that means that the regulator drops the inquiry depends presumably upon how generous the cheque is that's put her way."