Harrods boss Michael Ward has apologised and said he was ‘not aware’ of Al Fayed abuse

Michael Ward, who has been at the helm since 2005 and worked for Al Fayed between 2006 and 2010, said he wanted to express his “personal horror” at the allegations and emphasised he was “not aware of [Al Fayed’s] criminality and abuse”.

In a statement published by Ward, he said that had he been aware of the allegations he would “of course have acted”.

Reiterating the department store’s statement earlier this week, Ward added that Harrods “failed colleagues” and said he was “deeply sorry” for this.

He said: “As managing director of Harrods, I wanted to convey my personal horror at the revelations that have emerged over the past week. We have all seen the survivors bravely speak about the terrible abuse they suffered at the hands of Harrods former owner Mohamed Fayed. As we have already stated, we failed our colleagues and for that we are deeply sorry.

“As someone who has worked at Harrods since 2006, and therefore worked for Fayed until the change of ownership in 2010, I feel it is important to make it clear that I was not aware of his criminality and abuse. While it is true that rumours of his behaviour circulated in the public domain, no charges or allegations were ever put to me by the Police, the CPS, internal channels or others. Had they been, I would of course have acted immediately.

“Fayed, who owned Harrods from 1985 – 2010, operated this business as his own personal fiefdom. It is now clear that he presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct. The picture that is now emerging suggests that he did this wherever he operated.

“This was a shameful period in the business’ history, however the Harrods of today is unrecognisable to Harrods under his ownership. As detailed new information has come to light over the past 18 months, the business has established a settlement process, designed in consultation with independent external experts in personal injury litigation. We encourage former colleagues to contact us using this process so that we can provide the support, and recourse, they need.

“Alongside this there is an independent review led by a non-executive committee of the board to further consider the issues arising from the allegations. I am not part of the committee conducting this review and will in no way influence its operation or recommendations. However, I have provided all the information I have to ensure my own conduct can be reviewed alongside that of my colleagues. I have also stepped back from my charity trustee positions while this review is taking place.”

This comes after Egyptian billionaire and former Harrods owner Al Fayed, who died last year, has been accused of more than 20 cases of sexual abuse, ranging from sexual assault to rape.

Al Fayed was the owner of Harrods between 1985 and 2010.