Sir Philip Green has confirmed that he will attend his hearing with MPs investigating the collapse of BHS on Wednesday.
Green previously threatened that he would not attend the meeting unless MP Frank Field, who was heading the investigation resigned.
The Arcadia owner was angered by comments made by Field that the Business and Pensions committee would “laugh” at him if he offered anything lower than £600m to assist BHS‘s pension deficit.
In a statement, Green said: “I am disappointed not to have had a reply to either of my letters sent to Mr Field. I did not think or believe that those conducting a Parliamentary process would or should express concluded views in such a public way before I have had the chance to appear before the committee.
“Having given long and hard thought to the matter however, I have decided I will attend tomorrow morning, hoping and trusting that the committee will give me a fair hearing.
“This will be the first and only opportunity I have had to tell my side of the very sad BHS story and I will do my best to answer all the questions put to me in an honest and open way.”
Green and his family have come under fire for extracting £400m in dividends from the firm during his 15 year ownership and selling it to bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1 in 2015.
Chappell made further accusations in his hearing last week, stating that Green had continued to run BHS after the sale and prevented a rescue attempt from Sports Direct Boss Mike Ashley. He also noted that the retail tycoon had assisted in BHS‘ final collapse by pulling out a £35m loan. Green denies Chappell‘s accusations.
Ahead of tomorrow‘s hearing, a group of Conservative MPs also called for Green to be stripped of his kinghood last week. They indicated that they are preparing to write to the Honours Committee if the former BHS owner refuses to inject hundreds of millions of pounds into BHS‘s pension fund.
