British BHS chain started bankruptcy proceedings


04/26/2016

The UK's largest retail chain British Home Stores (BHS) will be transferred to management of consulting firm Duff & Phelps, which means the beginning of bankruptcy proceedings. This was announced by the official representative of BHS, reports Sky News.



by Ian S
Head of Retail Acquisitions consortium (BHS owner) Dominique Chappel regretted the situation in a letter to the chain’s employees, reports BBC News. Mr. Chappel promised that the staff will receive all wages for the current month.

Current BHS’s debt is estimated at 1.3 billion pounds (about $ 1.9 billion), including the pension fund deficit of 571 million pounds ($ 828 million). At the same time, about 11 thousand commercial chain’s employees found themselves under a threat of layoff.

As a representative of the management company told television channel Sky News, none of the BHS staff will be laid off in the nearest time, and the chain’s on-line service will continue to operate as before.

BNS stores chain was founded in 1928 by American businessmen, by analogy with the then existing Woolworths stores line. In 2015, the enterprise was sold for a nominal £ 1 to consortium Retail Acquisitions. The former owner of the trade network Philip Green bought BHS for 200 million pounds sterling in 2000, but was forced to sell it due to financial difficulties.

It was assumed that some BHS stores will be sold to sportswear retailer Sports Direct. However, the talks broke down since Sports Direct declined to commit itself to cover BHS’s pension deficit.

source: theguardian.com