Ex-BHS owner Dominic Chappell hits out at 15-year ban

Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell has lambasted a move to block him from the business world, but experts on Tuesday applauded the government’s decision.

The Insolvency Service has been looking into the April 2016 collapse of retailer BHS with a £571 million pension deficit, 13 months after it was sold by Sir Philip Green to serial bankrupt Chappell.

The service has said it would not seek to have Green disqualified, but it would take steps to have Chappell banned from holding directorships for up to 15 years.

Chappell said the findings were “totally flawed” and he would be “defending this” through the courts.

He added that he was angry about the details being released.

“It is an outrage Phillip Green has managed to slip his way through the net,” Chappell said.

A spokesman for Green said he cooperated fully with the probe.

Former pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann said: “I certainly hope that the action taken will force other directors to recognise that they must take their pension responsibilities seriously.”

The Institute of Directors said: “It’s absolutely right that the regulators should use the full extent of their powers if individuals are found to be culpable.”

Graham Vidler, director of external affairs at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said: “This sends a message to company directors about their wider duties, especially their responsibility to their company pension scheme."