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Sir Philip Green questioned by MPs over BHS collapse – live updates Sir Philip Green: 'I'm sorry about BHS collapse' – live
(35 minutes later)
9.12am BST 9.54am BST
09:12 09:54
The eagerly anticipated session begins shortly. We are embedding a live feed at the top of this blog (you might need to refresh to see it). Green tells MP to stop staring
It is also being streamed live here, and on BBC Parliament. I’m starting to suspect Sir Philip would rather be sunning himself on his new £100m yacht, Lionheart.
He just broke off an answer to ask Richard Fuller MP to “stop staring” at him, as it’s making him uncomfortable.
Fuller insists he doesn’t want to make Green uncomfortable, as everyone stares at Green in disbelief.
"Do you mind not looking at me like that, its really disturbing," says Green to MP. Bizarre moment
9.52am BST
09:52
Green then declines to comment on how much money is still owed to his wife Tina, as he doesn’t sign off the accounts.
But you’re a director of the company, points out a startled Jeremy Quin.
9.51am BST
09:51
Oops.
Sir Philip Green tries- and fails- to pour water into a cup during BHS Hearing https://t.co/gH7uiTj5dF
9.49am BST
09:49
Green now interrupts the committee so he can deliver a short speech correcting some inaccuracies delivered by previous witnesses.
He says £254m was invested in BHS in the early days.
After 2009, his Arcadia empire loaned £250m, interest free, plus another £100m in additional capital.
In total, he says, Arcadia put £600m in -- in the years between taking £400m dividends out and selling to Dominic Chappell.
He’s trying to puncture the idea that he ravaged the business like a rapacious robber baron.
Green claims £600m invested in business after the dividends. "I know you were struggling w/ balance sheet... £100m of assets left on sale"
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Today’s Daily Mirror points out that taxpayers have effectively subsidised Green’s retail empire over many years, through tax credits to bump up salaries. Green says he first thought about selling BHS in 2014, although it would have saved “a lot of aggravation” if he’d sold sooner.
How taxpayers helped shore up BHS workers' low pay while Green used firm's money to fund his lavish lifestyle pic.twitter.com/XrKdJoG6vh 9.45am BST
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08:56 Green keeps interrupting MPs with 'with respect' .. Not sounding too humble though.. Quite sharp..
FT: Green must be on best behaviour 9.44am BST
One tantalising question is whether Sir Philip Green maintains his composure once MPs probe his conduct over BHS: 09:44
Chris Nuttall of the Financial Times explains: Q: Why did your Arcadia operation take over some of BHS’s back-office functions?
The first challenge facing the Svengali of the rag trade will be to keep his temper. Sir Philip has a short fuse and MPs will be tempted to see if they can light it. Green claims it was for efficiencies, saying the service was provided below cost.
Anger is the short cut to putting his foot in it. This brings us on to Point Two: don’t swear or crack jokes. The entrepreneur uses some colourful language in private and has a sardonic sense of humour. He needs to keep it clean and straight-faced for the cameras. Thirdly the entrepreneur and part-time admiral in the Monaco Navy must sound contrite – 11,000 people have lost their jobs. And again, he’s not accepting criticism....
Sir Philip can be expected to avoid negotiating a settlement of liabilities for BHS’s underfunded pension scheme on-air, not least because committee chair Frank Field MP wants £600m, far more than is needed to cover the deficit on an ongoing basis. "It's not my job to run the back office. I think you'll find all the Arcadia business are run off the centre, let me just finish!"
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No sign of Sir Phil yet.... Sir Philip Green says "I dont accept that" when asked if his structure is tax avoidance
Photographers wait outside Parliament for former BHS owner Philip Green to arrive... pic.twitter.com/L6kf6GgZuZ 9.41am BST
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08:45 Michelle Thomson MP points out that Green’s property operation is based offshore, in Jersey, outside the UK tax jurisdiction.
Angela Monaghan Green doesn’t accept the criticism, saying that 30 or 40% of the FTSE is owned by offshore companies.
Dave Gill, national officer of the Usdaw trade union, says Philip Green must explain exactly why BHS failed. There are competitors of ours who dont pay tax as a normal course of business, Green says
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. It is the British Home Stores, and it’s owned by your wife, points out Frank Field.
“We should remember there are 11,000 employees that could in the next six weeks be out of jobs. Thomson asks Green if he’ll release all his accounts, including those of the offshore companies, to help the pensions regulator conduct its inquiries into BHS.
“They want to know what exactly has Philip Green been doing over the last number of years? What suddenly made him pull the plug on it? Its a very sad time and he should be held accountable for it.” Green says he doesn’t have these details (even though his wife Tina is the ultimate owner). He insists that he’s never held an offshore bank account.
Gill adds that workers deserve answers on why Green handed the business to Dominic Chappell last year: 9.36am BST
“The main thing that people find concerning is that he could just sell his company for £1 to someone who has already been bankrupt a number of times. It’s not as though he even tried to sell it on to someone credible who could actually try and turn the business round.” 09:36
“Reading between the lines it seems that his view was just to try and get rid of it as soon as possible. So what first attracted you to Monaco, Mr Green?
Related: Sir Philip Green must be held to account, says union boss The committee turn to the BHS properties which were sold to Green family companies (in a sale and leaseback scheme).
8.37am BST Q: Does that mean that you avoided paying tax on £152m rent?
08:37 It doesn’t work like that, mutters Green, suggesting this isn’t a sensible path to go down.
The questions Green must answer Q: So how does it work?
We’ve rounded up the 11 key questions which MPs must put to Green today, so lets see how many the MPs manage to ask. Green says he and his family left the country in 1998 for health reasons after a heart scare. He then returned to the UK to work, leaving his family behind.
More details here: He suggests that Monaco was recommended to him as a good place to recuperate.
Related: Sir Philip Green's grilling by MPs: the 11 key questions Q: When did you first discover the tax advantages, asks Frank Field innocently (ish)
8.29am BST I think it’s well known, Green replies - but at that stage he didn’t know how his career would turn out.
08:29 Q: But didn’t you ever think that it wasn’t appropriate to be based in a tax haven?
Green had threatened to boycott today’s hearing, furious with Frank Field MP for suggesting he should lose his knighthood. Green denies that he structured his business to avoid tax -- we have paid tax on all the money raised in the UK, and paid a lot of it, he insists.
But yesterday, he confirmed he would show up today, saying:
“This will be the first and only opportunity I have had to tell my side of the very sad BHS story, and I will do my best to answer all the questions put to me in an honest and open way.”
I’m not sure this is exactly the first opportunity – frankly, we’d have sent a taxi to Monaco if Green had fancied speaking out sooner.
Here’s our news story about today’s session:
Related: Philip Green to face MPs on Wednesday morning over collapse of BHS
8.21am BST
08:21
The queue started early for Sir Philip Green's appearance before MPs today #BHS @drapers pic.twitter.com/w0sXCIWDDp
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08:16
People are already flocking to Portcullis House ready for Green’s appearance, in an hour’s time.
At parliament for Philip Green's hearing on BHS and there's already a queue.. More people than for Mike Ashley last week. PG will like that.
Roll up roll up for the PG show.. pic.twitter.com/ZYIRETlUyn
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The agenda: Philip Green faces MPs over BHS scandal Green is already looking irked as the committee try to dig into BHS’s finances.
Good morning. We’ve already had two “with respect”s....
Sir Philip Green is swapping the luxury of the Monto Carlo yacht club for the relative austerity of parliament’s Portcullis House today, as MPs continue to probe the collapse of the BHS retail chain. Green trying to interrupt MP: "with respect, we can pick any numbers if we want to make it look disconnected"
And it should be an absolute belter of a session, perhaps one of the most exciting since these events were televised. 9.28am BST
Green, one of Britain’s most successful businesspeople, has been summoned to explain his part in a scandal that is costing 11,000 jobs and threatening the pensions of thousands more former employees. 09:28
The Business, Innovation and Skills committee, and the Work and Pensions committee, will together quiz Green about his stewardship of BHS, and the seemingly huge sums he paid his family during that time. Q: What about the dividends that you took out of BHS?
They must quiz Green on his fateful decision to sell the chain in 2015 for £1 to a man, Dominic Chappell, with a couple of bankruptcies on his CV but no retail experience. Green claims that he didn’t operate an aggressive financial strategy at BHS.
That includes investigating curious property deals which appeared to be designed to help make Chappell look like a credible bidder. Q: But in 2002-2004 dividends were around double the profits...
And probably most importantly, they need to press Green hard on the BHS pension deficit (currently £571m). Why didn’t he fix this problem before the sale, rather than leaving it in Chappell’s tender clutches? And what will he do to fix the mess now? Green cites different figures, claiming that they show BHS made a profit of £537m during that period [higher than the £400m dividends his family took out]
Green’s reputation has been badly damaged by the unfolding drama around BHS already. His credibility is on the line. And so is the knighthood he received a decade ago for services to the fashion industry. Q: But do you still think that the dividend policy was prudent?
The meeting is due to start at 9.15am. And it could be an epic session, as the room is booked until 2.30pm. So get the popcorn in. The leverage used was not excessive, Green insists.
Gearing up for Philip Green #Bhs Grilling. Room booked til 2.30pm - could be a long one... pic.twitter.com/8Xqa2hyMqj Financing of BHS was "extremely conservative" Green says...
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9.27am BST
09:27
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9.25am BST
09:25
I would like to apologise to all BHS people says Green
9.23am BST
09:23
Green apologises to BHS staff
Sir Philip Green then tells the committee that his “emotional tie” to BHS meant he hung onto the chain too long, adding.
Nothing is more sad than how this has ended.
And he then apologises to staff at BHS for the chain’s collapse.
Green says what probably got him into "trouble" is that he had "too strong an emotional tie" to BHS. Apologies for what has happened
9.22am BST
09:22
Green: I'll own up to mistakes
And we’re off. Frank Field begins by welcoming Philip Green.
And then Michelle Thomson starts the questioning, asking Green what value sums up his career as a top retailer.
Green looks a bit surprised by this approach, replying that “it’s not right to mark your own essay”.
He then explains that he began at the bottom, trudging the streets at 6.30am selling clothing.
If I’ve done something wrong, I’ll put my hands up and admit it. And I don’t tell lies, he pledges.
Q: So would you sum up your attribute as “honesty and hard working”.
Yes, I think so, Green replies.