Dominic Chappell, who bought BHS for £1, faces Commons grilling

Updated

Dominic Chappell, the man who bought BHS for £1 from Sir Philip Green, will appear before MPs to answer questions over the retailer's collapse.

Last week administrators to the department store chain called time on trying to find a buyer, resulting in the loss of up to 11,000 jobs.

The business is now being wound down and all BHS's 163 shops will close.

Attention will now turn to the role of Sir Philip, who owned the chain for 15 years, and former bankrupt Mr Chappell, who bought the chain last year through his company Retail Acquisitions.

MPs from the Business and Pensions committees are on Wednesday set to quiz both men over their roles in the retailer's collapse.

The pair have been roundly criticised: Sir Philip for paying a £400 million dividend to his family from the business and over his management of the pension scheme, and Mr Chappell for sucking management fees out of BHS before its collapse.

Iain Wright MP, chairman of the Business committee, said: "In these sessions, we will want to explore how Retail Acquisitions was considered to be a suitable buyer for BHS, an apparently struggling high street store which was saddled with a large pension deficit.

"We will want to untangle the nature of the advice, both formal and informal, which was provided to Arcadia and RAL as part of the sale process. We will want to probe the role of directors in this sale and to examine whether the existing regulatory regime is fit for purpose."

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