Advertisement
UK Markets closed
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,884.73
    +74.07 (+0.37%)
     
  • AIM

    743.26
    +1.15 (+0.15%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1692
    -0.0002 (-0.01%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2625
    +0.0002 (+0.0189%)
     
  • BTC-GBP

    55,350.18
    -396.18 (-0.71%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,205.81
    +1.00 (+0.01%)
     

An 88-year-old retail giant disappears from Britain's high street

Sir Philip Green gives evidence to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and Work and Pensions Committee at Portcullis House, London, on the collapse of BHS.
Sir Philip Green gives evidence to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and Work and Pensions Committee at Portcullis House, London, on the collapse of BHS.

PA / PA Wire/Press Association Images

The last remaining BHS stores will close their doors for the final time this weekend, marking the end of the retail giant's 88-year history.

The retail giant is set to close the remaining 22 stores over the Bank Holiday weekend that are left in its network, which included more than 150 stores across the UK earlier this year.

British Homes Stores, which opened its first store in London's Brixton neighbourhood in 1928, was placed into administration in March but failed to find a buyer.

Administrators Duff & Phelps have already shut 141 stores over recent weeks, including the company's flagship store on London's Oxford Street.

ADVERTISEMENT

One BHS customer described the BHS shut down as an "end of an era" during an interview with Sky News. 

Up to 11,000 jobs and 22,000 pensions have been affected as a result of the BHS collapse. The company's previous owners, Dominic Chappell and Sir Philip Green, were criticised by MPs for mismanaging the chain and failing to protect the company pension scheme. 

A parliamentary inquiry accused Green of extracting significant sums of money from BHS and failing to address a £571 million deficit in the company's pension fund.

BHS
BHS

PA / PA Wire/Press Association ImagesGreen is spending the summer on his luxury yacht. He is offering to plug a gap in the company's pension hole if the probe is dropped, according to Sky News.

Green, the chairman of the Arcadia group, which also owns Topshop, sold BHS to Chappell in March for £1 even though he had once declared himself bankrupt and had next to no experience of running a large retail company.

BHS has failed to innovate and keep up with the competition over the last two decades, giving the chain a jaded feel. The owners have been criticised for failing to put the money in that BHS needed.

MPs criticised billionaire Green in a report for being "the "unacceptable face of capitalism". He could be stripped of his knighthood.

The closure of the final 22 stores will be a big blow to some of the towns that considered the retailer a key department store in their area.

Benetti yacht
Benetti yacht

PA / PA Wire/Press Association Images

The final 22 stores to close are:

  • Exeter

  • Surrey Quays, London

  • St Enoch Centre, Glasgow

  • Metrocentre, Tyne and Wear

  • York

  • Merryhill, West Midlands

  • Romford, Essex

  • Harrow, north west London

  • Doncaster

  • Walthamstow, east London

  • Uxbridge, west London

  • Bexleyheath, Kent

  • Leicester

  • Norwich

  • Belfast

  • Kingston, Surrey

  • Hanley, Staffordshire

  • St James, Northampton

  • Swansea

  • Wood Green, north London

  • Cribbs Causeway, Bristol

  • St Albans, Hertfordshire

NOW WATCH: Warren Buffett's sister needs your help giving away millions

See Also: