Retail round-up on June 8, 2016: Dominic Chappell blamed for BHS's demise, Tesco may sell Kipa and Giraffe chains and Amazon expands on groceries.
BHS managers blame Dominic Chappell and his Retail Acquisitions for retailer's collapse
The former management of BHS has blamed its owners, the Dominic Chappell-led Retail Acquisitions, for the high-street retailer’s collapse into administration, BBC News reports.
In a strongly worded letter to staff, nine managers said that Chappell and Retail Acquisitions had not secured sufficient funds to keep the business running and also that they "did not give confidence" to credit insurers and suppliers.
The managers praised former BHS chief executive Darren Topp, but had a brutal assessment of Retail Acquisitions (RAL).
"The inability of RAL to raise sufficient funds and dispose of key property assets hindered the management team in delivering the turnaround plan," it said.
"Any sums of financing raised or property disposals appeared to fall short of expectations. Under challenge, Dominic Chappell continuously assured us he would deliver on raising funds; this was not the case."
Meanwhile, Allied Commercial Exporters (ACE), owned by property billionaires Guy and Alexander Dellal, reportedly made between £16m and £18m from a string of transactions with BHS that were arranged by Chappell, Sky News reports.
Tesco nearing sale of Giraffe and Turkish chain Kipa
Tesco is close to selling its Turkish supermarket chain Kipa and UK restaurant chain Giraffe as part of its turnaround plan, according to Sky News.
The grocer is understood to be selling Kipa to Turkish rival Migros, while Giraffe is being sold to an unidentified family controlled investment group that already owns restaurants in Britain.
Tesco is expected to sell the Turkish business for "a couple of hundred million pounds", while Giraffe would be "all but given away" an analyst told Sky News.
Amazon could roll out grocery delivery service this week
Amazon is poised to expand its food delivery service throughout the UK as early as this week, Financial Times reported.
The move to introduce Amazon Fresh service in Britain shows it is willing to compete with established supermarkets to attract affluent customers and carve out market share.
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