• Arcadia may try to block FRP Advisory appointment
  • PPF asked FRP to be appointed as independent administrator alongside Duff & Phelps
  • First tranche of BHS stores to close on Saturday

Arcadia may try to block the appointment of a second administrator to collapsed chain BHS because it believes it would be a waste of creditors’ money.

Sir Philip Green’s group may raise a formal objection to the appointment of FRP Advisory at a public hearing this Friday, according to Sky News.

BHS’s biggest unsecured creditor, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), asked for the appointment of FRP Advisory in June, saying that it wanted an independent administrator to work alongside current administrator Duff & Phelps.

It was alleged by former BHS owner Dominic Chappell during recent select committee hearings on the collapse of BHS that Green referred to Duff & Phelps as his “ponies”, saying they would do whatever he wanted them to.

The FRP is likely to be asked to examine the conduct of past owners and managers of BHS. Its collapse has left 11,000 workers at risk of losing their jobs and a pension black hole which would cost the PPF £571m to shore up.

The first tranche of BHS stores will close this weekend, with around 600 workers likely to lose their jobs. More closures, dictated by stock levels, will follow.

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