MPs call for Sir Shifty's £100m super yacht to be seized to help fill £570m black hole in BHS pension fund 

  • Sir Philip Green’s £100million super yacht Lionheart could be seized 
  • Regulators might also consider going Sir Philip’s wife Tina Green's assets
  • Sir Philip told MPs over the summer that he would ‘sort’ the pensions crisis 

By Hugo Duncan for the Daily Mail

Published: 16:33 EST, 22 November 2016 | Updated: 21:14 EST, 22 November 2016

Sir Philip Green’s £100million super yacht could be seized to help pay the pensions of thousands of workers at collapsed high street chain BHS.

Furious MPs have asked regulators if ‘assets other than cash’ can be used to plug the black hole in the BHS pension fund.

This could include the tycoon’s super yacht Lionheart, which was branded ‘BHS Destroyer’ over the summer following the demise of the 88-year-old retail giant.

Regulators might also consider going after the assets of Sir Philip’s wife Lady Tina Green, who owns a near-£2billion stake in the family retail empire.

The tycoon’s super yacht Lionhear was branded ‘BHS Destroyer’ over the summer, following the demise of the 88-year-old retail giant

Labour MP Frank Field, chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee, which has investigated the black hole in the BHS retirement scheme, has written to The Pensions Regulator to find out what can be seized to plug the gap.

Sir Philip told MPs over the summer that he would ‘sort’ the pensions crisis

That could lead to further embarrassment for Sir Philip – who has been dubbed ‘Sir Shifty’ and has faced calls to be stripped of his knighthood.

After the letter was published last night, Mr Field said: ‘There is now nothing beyond limits as we understand it. Of course the yacht could be targeted.

‘I hope The Pensions Regulator will make clear to Sir Philip Green that nothing is off limits in its search for justice for the BHS pensioners – even if it takes the seizure of yachts and private jets to deliver that justice.’

A spokesman for Sir Philip declined to comment.

Sir Philip, who has been branded ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism’ by MPs, sold BHS for a pound to three times bankrupt former racing driver Dominic Chappell in March last year.

It collapsed just 13 months later with the loss of 11,000 jobs and a £571million black hole in its pension fund – threatening the retirement of 20,000 former workers.

Sir Philip told MPs over the summer that he would ‘sort’ the pensions crisis.

But earlier this month The Pensions Regulator claimed he had failed to make a ‘sufficiently credible and comprehensive offer’.

In an incredibly rare move, it then issued an enforcement notice to compel Sir Philip to strike a deal and warned that it could go after the assets of the businessman and Lady Green.

The Greens, who are thought to be worth £3.2billion, spent the summer on their luxury yacht Lionheart cruising the Mediterranean as the final BHS stores closed.

Labour MP Frank Field, chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee has written to The Pensions Regulator to find out what assets can be seized to plug the gap

During this time, Sir Philip claimed he was working as the Pensions Regulator tried to thrash a deal to fund the black hole in BHS pensions.

However, last month it was revealed he had failed to put any formal offer on the table.

Days later MPs branded the tycoon a ‘billionaire spiv’ and voted to strip Sir Philip of his knighthood, although the decision can only be made by a special committee.

In last night’s letter, Mr Field asked for further information about what action the regulator can take to recoup money from the Green family and its businesses.

He asked The Pensions Regulator if they it pursue a resident ‘overseas’, a company ‘offshore’, and if it can ‘acquire assets other than cash from a person or company from which payment is being sought’.

It is thought that the Greens, many of whose assets are based offshore, have three yachts worth a total of £144million.

Sir Philip’s wife Lady Tina Green owns a near-£2billion stake in the family retail empire

Sir Philip also has a Gulfstream private jet and a helicopter, although it is not clear whether he actually owns them.

Lesley Titcomb, chief executive of The Pensions Regulator, is due to appear before MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee today [weds] to answer further questions about the debacle at BHS.

MPs want to know how the watchdog’s regulatory powers ‘can and should be used to avoid another BHS pension fund disaster without penalising properly run businesses’.

The hearing is likely to heap further embarrassment on Sir Philip and his role in the collapse of the high street giant.

Theresa May last month launched a thinly veiled attack on Sir Philip as she took a pop at ‘a director who takes out massive dividends while knowing the company pension is about to go bust’.

She hit out at ‘people in positions of power have more in common with international elites than with the people down the road, the people they employ, the people they pass on the street’.

Sir Philip and his wife took more than £400million of dividends from BHS between 2002 and 2004, before the huge deficit was allowed to build up.

The Pensions Regulator yesterday also confirmed that it had used its powers to probe more deeply into Sir Philip’s retail empire by demanding information about the retirement scheme at Arcadia, which owns high street brands such as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton.

Lady Shifty’s stake in Arcadia – which itself has a chunky pension fund deficit pegged at £151million in its latest accounts - is estimated to be worth just under £2billion.

Mr Field said: ‘We are pleased to see that The Pension Regulator has used its powers to demand information from Arcadia about yet another of Sir Philip Green’ s pension funds that is going deep into deficit, but it is a terrible concern that it has got to this stage again. Is Sir Philip going to “sort” this one too?’ 

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