BHS: Pensions Regulator yet to receive 'credible' offer from Sir Philip Green

In an interview with ITV, broadcast last night, the Topshop tycoon said he is in “very strong dialogue” with the regulator in a bid to fix the scheme, following the department store’s high-profile collapse in April.

But in a statement last night, the Pensions Regulator said: “Our focus remains on achieving the best possible outcome for members of the BHS pension scheme and PPF levy payers and our discussions with Sir Philip Green and his advisers about a possible settlement are ongoing.

“We are yet to receive a comprehensive and credible written proposal and have made clear what we require in this regard.” 

BHS’s pension blackhole is reported to have ballooned to as much as £700m as gilt yields have slid since the EU referendum.

In the interview, his first appearance since his grilling from MPs in June, Green again apologised for the problems caused by BHS’s collapse. He said he was “sad and very sorry… for all the hardship and sort of sadness caused to all the people who worked there, and all the pensioners”.

Yesterday, lawyers commissioned by Green published an 82-page report slamming an MP-led inquiy into the department store chain’s collapse in April.