Yahoo Finance BHS Owners Discussed £250,000 CVA Bonus
Two directors of the vehicle which owned BHS until it plunged into administration in April discussed the payment of a £250,000 bonus despite the retailer's ongoing cashflow problems.
Sky News has learnt that Dominic Chappell, who ran Retail Acquisitions Limited (RAL), proposed handing Aidan Treacy, its chief financial officer, the payment upon completion of a restructuring deal called a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).
The bonus was initially expected to be awarded by BHS itself but sources familiar with the situation say that Mr Treacy and Darren Topp, the chain's chief executive, then agreed that such a payment was inappropriate.
A person close to Mr Treacy insisted he was then offered the payment by RAL but that he declined to accept it.
"(He) did not think it was appropriate to take a bonus given the ongoing cashflow difficulties with trade suppliers," said the person.
News (Other OTC: NWSAL - news) of the proposed bonus comes days after Mr Chappell admitted to MPs investigating BHS's collapse that he had profited from his 13-month ownership of the chain.
He declined to say exactly how much he had made, saying he would provide those details in writing after the hearing.
RAL took millions of pounds in fees from BHS, with Mr Chappell accused by Mr Topp last week of drawing up a secret plan known as Project Herald which would have carved out the retailer's most profitable assets for RAL's benefit.
BHS is now being wound down, and - barring a last-ditch rescue of some of its 163 stores - 11,000 staff face losing their jobs.
Mr Treacy joined RAL in December, and played a key role in drawing up the CVA proposal, which relied on the support of creditors including BHS's landlords.
It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) was overwhelmingly approved in March, providing a glimmer of hope for the business, which had been sold to RAL by the high street billionaire Sir Philip Green for £1 in March 2015.
Sir Philip is due to appear in front of the parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday, although he threatened to pull out late last week after Frank Field, one of the probe's co-chairs, said the committee would "laugh at him" if he failed to offer at least £600m to plug the hole in BHS's pension schemes.
Mr Treacy declined to comment through a spokesman, while Mr Chappell could not be reached for comment.
