Sir Philip Green pays £363m towards BHS pension deficit
Published: 28 February 2017 - Jenny Wonnacott
Former BHS owner Sir Philip Green has announced a £363m settlement towards the BHS pension scheme, which was left in a £571m deficit following the retailer's collapse last year.
Sir Philip Green said he hoped the settlement would draw the matter of BHS to a conclusion
The business tycoon, who has faced lengthy grilling by MPs over the sale of BHS to bankrupt businessman Dominic Chappell over the last few months,said his settlement would be “significantly better” than the scheme entering the Pension Protection Fund.. The collapse of BHS last April left thousands of workers redundant and the pension scheme directly affected around 22,000 people.
Sir Philip said, “I have today made a voluntary contribution of up to £363 million to enable the trustees of the BHS pension schemes to achieve a significantly better outcome than the schemes entering the Pension Protection Fund, which was the goal from the outset.
“The settlement follows lengthy, complex discussions with the Pensions Regulator and the PPF, both of which are satisfied with the solution that has been offered.
“To achieve a significantly better outcome than entering the PPF, the contribution required to achieve this long-term solution was arrived at by the actuaries for both The Regulator and the Trustees.”
He added that the settlement would bring the matter “to a conclusion” and apologised to those affected. ““All relevant notices, including legal matters and claims from the Pensions Regulator, have been withdrawn, bringing this matter to a conclusion,” he said.
“Once again I would like to apologise to the BHS pensioners for this last year of uncertainty, which was clearly never the intention when the business was sold in March 2015.
“I am also happy to confirm that any of the pensioners that have faced cuts over the last year will now be brought back to their original BHS starting level pension and will all be made whole.
“I hope that this solution puts their minds at rest and closes this sorry chapter for them.”
In addition he has made £20million available towards the costs of implementation. It means all pensioners have the option to receive pensions at the full starting level they were promised by the BHS schemes.