BHS: Former owner Dominic Chappell defended himself in front of MPs
Dominic Chappell 'had fingers in the till': Former associate
BHS 'faced significant competition', MPs told
BBC Radio 5 Live
Quote MessageIt was simply was astonishing. I’ve not heard anything like it in over 20 years of covering this industry. It was basically a huge round of finger pointing. Seems to me no real taking of responsibility.
Bryan Roberts, Retail expert, TCC Global
BBC News Channel
Craig McKinlay, a Conservative member of the Work and Pensions committee, told the BBC News Channel that Dominic Chappell had played the "blame game" when he appeared before MPs today in the inquiry into the collapse of BHS.
He said Sir Phillip Green's sale of the high street chain to Mr Chappell - for the nominal sum of one pound - had been risky right from the start:
Quote MessageYou would have thought, with the under-capitalisation that he brought to the table - there were then some loans at some exorbitant rates of interest - you know, it was just, I think, going to fail from day one. The man himself, he'd had very little experience, he had no retail experience, he had some failed businesses and efforts in the past, and as he was described by many, I mean not by myself, but by many, was a bit of a Walter Mitty character. And I think what we saw today did bear some of that out."
Reality Check
The question: Julian asks BBC Radio 4's PM programme "How much has/will the referendum cost?"
Reality Check verdict: The estimated cost of the referendum is £142.4m, according to the written statement to Parliament by the Cabinet Office.
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BBC World Service
Researcher Alice Eagly of Northwestern University tells Manuela Saragosa on Business Daily what characterises female leadership, and whether the gender difference is even meaningful.
Researcher Alice Eagly on the differences - if any - between male and female leaders.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has started an investigation into how Deloitte prepared, approved and audited financial statements of Serco companies between the beginning of 2011 and the end of 2012.
This decision follows information from the Serious Fraud Office, which is investigating Serco’s prisoner electronic tagging contracts.
BBC Radio 5 Live
Quote MessageIt’s pretty breathtaking. I can’t recall any sort of discussion involving business with the sort of allegations we’ve heard this morning. People threatening to kill each other and real washing of dirty linen in public of what went wrong at BHS and it’s a pretty sorry tale.
George MacDonald, Executive editor, Retail Week magazine
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Singapore is expected to overtake the UK by 2020 to become the world’s second-largest offshore financial centre behind Switzerland as the balance of global wealth moves steadily eastward.
According to the Boston Consulting Group’s Global Wealth 2016 report, the UK’s $1.3tn offshore financial industry will be superseded by Singapore’s over the next four years.
Image source, Singapore
Image source, Getty ImagesWall Street has opened slightly higher today.
On Tuesday the S&P closed at it's highest level for nearly 11 months off the back of a rise in oil prices and the prospect of an interest rate rise next week seeming to recede.
A short while ago the Dow Jones was at 17,998.61 - a rise of 0.34%.
The Nasdaq was up 0.23% at 4,973.40.
And the S&P 500 had edged up 0.29% to 2,118.31.
The World at One
BBC Radio 4
One former BHS employee is Lin MacMillan who has launched a campaign to "achieve justice" for staff and pensioners affected by the company's collapse. She listened to the select committee this morning and gave her reaction to BBC Radio 4's World at One.
"What I’ve heard from the committee hearing is appalling.
"All these people who seem to spend their time trading insults, threatening to kill each other, using foul language, are not fit and proper people to run a big company like BHS.
"It’s becoming obvious that Philip Green knew exactly what he was doing when he sold BHS to Dominic Chapell for a pound.
"He wanted rid of it because it was becoming a millstone around his neck.” Listen to the interview here
More reaction to the BHS committee hearing - this time from the shopworkers' trade union Usdaw.
It's calling for the focus to switch to saving jobs and preventing the company from going into liquidation.
Quote MessageWe hope that the various allegations made in today’s select committee hearing do not divert attention away from finding a suitable buyer for the business, even at this late stage. Whilst former and current senior people from BHS engage in a round of finger pointing, the 11,000 staff are staring down the barrel of a gun, facing unemployment in the next few weeks. We know there are very serious questions that need to be answered about the past, but I am urging the administrators to redouble their efforts to find a buyer, it’s the very least that the long-serving and loyal BHS staff deserve. In the meantime we are providing the support and advice our members in BHS require at this very difficult time.
Dave Gill, Usdaw National Officer
It started this morning with buyer Dominic Chappell's former associates hurling lurid accusations. It ended with Mr Chappell defending his corner and accusing Sir Philip Green of forcing the business into administration, of willing him to fail, and of leaving the business in such a state some of the stores did not have heating.
There's more to come. Next week Sir Philip himself will tell MPs what's been going on.
Meanwhile, the pensions regulator is investigating whether his Arcadia Group sought to avoid its responsibilities in the sale of the business and should be pursued for a contribution to make good BHS's £571m pension deficit.
Dominic Chappell has responded to allegations from BHS chief executive Darren Topp that he threatened to "come down there and kill" Mr Topp over a disagreement. Telegraph reporter Ashley Armstrong tweets after Mr Chappell's appearance before MPs:
Here's a question for you all.
Have you heard of the term mythomaniac?.
Former BHS financial consultant Michael Hitchcock used it when describing Dominic Chappell to MPs.
"I think I was duped. I think the technical term is a mythomaniac. The lay person's term is he was a premier league liar and a Sunday pub league retailer. At best," he said.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, external, mythomania is "an abnormal or pathological tendency to create myths, tell lies or exaggerate".
BHS hearing: Owner Chapell says Sir Philip Green 'went absolutely insane'
Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell has told MPs that Sir Philip Green was furious when he became aware that Mr Chappell was in talks with Sports Direct over a rescue plan for the business.
Appearing at a committee hearing, Mr Chappell said that Sir Philip effectively blocked a deal when he called in a £35m loan, tipping the company into administration.
BBC business editor tweets...
Dominic Chappell defends being out of the country when BHS went into administration. That week he was in the Bahamas meeting possible investors, and then flew to Boston for an eye procedure, before carrying on to Montreal and Vancouver for further investor meetings, he says.
"I was in there trying everything we possibly could to raise funds," he tells MPs. Asked why he wasn't with staff, like a captain being "on the bridge of the ship if it's going down", Mr Chappell says he met with very senior investment funds to try to save the business. Administrators Duffy & Phelps also made it very clear Mr Chappell's company was not permitted back in the building, he adds.
The BHS inquiry has taken a Shakespearean twist. MPs have been hearing accounts of Sir Philip Green's continued involvement in BHS' affairs after he sold the business for £1, prompting the co-chair of the inquiry to muse:
Quote Message"So Sir Philip Green was like Banquo's ghost: ever present in all your activities?"
Frank Field MP, co-chair of the inquiry