British Home Stores

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
British Home Stores
legal form Ltd
founding 1928
Seat London , United Kingdom
Number of employees 11,000 (2016)
Branch retail trade
Website www.bhs.com

British Home Stores , or BHS for short , was a British clothing and housewares chain that had to close in 2016 due to insolvency. Prior to bankruptcy, the company had 163 UK offices and 74 overseas locations. It employed 11,000 people and there were around 20,000 employees, some of whom were former employees. A successor company called “British Home Stores” has been active again as an online retailer without branches since 2017.

history

The company was founded in 1928 by a group of American entrepreneurs. The first store opened in Brixton , London . The company expanded into other cities in the country in the following years. The locations of the branches were usually the main shopping streets and later also larger shopping centers.

In 1933 the company's shares were listed on the stock exchange. After the war, the company expanded successfully, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. The first difficulties arose in the 1980s. The image has been revised and the value of the product range increased.

BHS branch in Darlington with the appearance until 1995
Wakefield branch with appearance from 1995 to 2010
Brighton branch with logo from 2010 to 2015
Watford branch with the last valid appearance

in 2000, Philip Green acquired all of the shares in BHS, which was previously part of the FTSE 100 index . The company was incorporated into its Arcadia Group . However, the development continued to be disappointing. The business model and appearance of the retail chain have been revised several times. There were also changes in management. After several years of losses, Philip Green parted ways with the company in 2015 for the symbolic value of £ 1. Behind the new owner, Retail Acquisitions Ltd, were several financial investors led by Dominic Chappell, a former racing driver.

Just one year later, in April 2016, the company filed for bankruptcy after attempts to sell the company failed. In August 2016 the branches were closed and in December the still salable parts of the company were liquidated.

Post-breakdown investigations

Philip Green is alleged to have withdrawn assets from the company and amassed debt to the company until it collapsed. Parliament decided on October 20, 2016 to instruct the Honors Forfeiture Committee to issue a recommendation on the revocation of Green's knighthood . Finally, without recognizing any legal obligation, Green paid the liquidator £ 363m to top up the pension fund.

Dominic Chappell are also accused of misconduct. He would have set aside £ 1.5m in cash just before filing for bankruptcy. In addition, the British pension corporation TPR had sued Chappell to force him to settle the BHS pension fund. His objection to a corresponding judgment was dismissed in early 2020, so that he has to pay back £ 9.5 million to the pension fund.

Successor company

The Al Mana Group from Qatar has acquired certain assets from the bankruptcy and has been operating an online shop with the classic range of the old department store chain under the name 'British Home Stores' since 2017. There is a conscious reference to the predecessor company, the logo says 'founded in 1928'. The Al Mana Group employs 3,500 people and describes itself as a conglomerate . The group includes over 55 companies in 8 countries.

See also

Commons : BHS  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BHS to be wound down as rescue attempt fails - BBC News . Bbc.co.uk. May 1, 2016. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  2. ↑ Gerry Braiden: Timeline: How BHS went from High Street perennial to administration . In: The Herald , April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 20, 2018. 
  3. ↑ Sir Philip Green sells BHS to Retail Acquisitions 'for £ 1' , BBC. March 12, 2015. Accessed April 20, 2018. 
  4. ↑ British department store chain files for bankruptcy . In: Handelsblatt . April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  5. ↑ BHS set to file for administration after sale talks fail . In: Financial Times . Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  6. ↑ Laura Hughes: 'Sir Philip Green' beat BHS black and blue 'say MPs as they approve calls to strip him of his knighthood' . In: The Telegraph . October 20, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  7. ↑ Eva Lapido: This man is the new enemy of the Brexit British . In: world . July 26, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  8. ^ Sarah Butler: Green's 'main purpose' in BHS sale was to avoid pension liability, says watchdog ( en ) In: The Guardian . June 27, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  9. ↑ Simon Jack: BHS owner tried to move cash out of firm . In: BBc . April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  10. ^ "Dominic Chappell: Former BHS owner ordered to pay £ 9.5m into pension schemes" The Independent of January 15, 2020
  11. ^ Website of the Al Mana Group .