A conflict has broken out among BHS creditors, one of which has stated the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is overriding other creditors’ interests.
Duff & Phelps, one of two administrators appointed to oversee the sale of BHS assets, has accused the PPF of “having control over the entire process” and increasing the cost of working on the department store’s collapse.
Tensions between the two firms were already high because the PPF had insisted a second administrator must be brought in alongside Duff & Phelps, as it was hired by former BHS owner Sir Philip Green and may have close ties to the billionaire.
Last month Duff & Phelps stood down when BHS was officially put into liquidation, posting a £4 million bill for their work.
Labour MP Frank Field questioned this bill, citing the comparative £800,000 fee of the second administrator FRP Advisory.
READ MORE: BHS enters liquidation
In a response, Duff & Phelps managing director Phil Duffy said that the whole process had been “slightly unusual” because “one creditor (PPF) had control over the entire process”.
He continued to explain that the needs of the other creditors were ignored and the views were “overridden” by the PPF, referring specifically to the appointment of a second administrator.
The collapse of BHS notoriously left the pensions of 22,000 staff at risk, leaving a £570 million deficit in its wake, a problem which the PPF has been tasked to solve.
Green has been repeatedly pushed to contribute from his own pocket, but so far his offers have led no where.
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