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Petition urges Green to plug 571 million pound BHS pension deficit

By Vivian Hendriksz

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Business

Former BHS employers and trade unions representatives have banded together to hand over a petition at Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group headquarters today, which demands that he plugs the 571 million pound deficit in the collapsed retailer's pension scheme.

Over 107,000 people have signed a petition calling for the billionaire entrepreneur to uphold the pledge he made during a parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of BHS and "sort" the deficit the high street retailer's pension scheme. The petition started by Usdaw, one of many currently circulating, is set to be delivered to Arcadia Group's office Wednesday by John Hannett, the general secretary of the UK's fourth largest trade union.

Green previously promised back in June that he would tackle the gap in the pension scheme when he was called to appear before MPS. However, since then he has been unable to come to an agreement with the Pension Regulator, who has "yet to receive a comprehensive written proposal", states the petition. The Pension Regulator has undertaken legal proceedings against Green and Dominic Chappell, who are both former owners of BHS.

"Sir Philip Green promised MPs he’d "sort" the pension scheme back in June, implying that would happen soon. Over five months later we still don’t appear to be any further forward and his derisory offer of 250 million pounds quite simply does not go anywhere near keeping his promise," said Hannett in a statement.

"Every one of the current and future BHS pensioners need assurances about their future income; having seen a company that traded on our high streets for over 80 years sold for 1 pound, then go to the wall with over 11,000 jobs lost. That requires Sir Philip to put up enough funds to deliver a better deal than the guaranteed 90 percent of accrued benefits from the Pension Protection Fund."

"Our priority is to see Sir Phillip do the right thing. If he wants to recover any reputational credibility he must not haggle his way out of his responsibilities, he must make a full contribution and do it quickly. That is the least he can do for former staff, many of whom spent their entire working life at BHS."

The petition argues that the majority of the pension deficit was built up during Green's 15 years at the helm of BHS, a period during which he consistently underfunded the scheme while paying his wife 400 million pounds in BHS dividends.

Photo credit: Sir Philip Green, BBC via Wikimedia Commons

Arcadia Group
BHS
Sir Philip Green