Sir Philip Green agrees to pay £363m to rescue BHS pension scheme

Sir Philip Green has agreed to pay £363 million of his own money to rescue the BHS pension scheme.

Workers will now get the same starting pension that they were originally promised.

It follows lengthy negotiations with the Pensions Regulator over benefits for former workers of the collapsed retailer.

The amount is significantly less than the £571 million deficit the firm was left with when it went bust in April last year.

Billionaire tycoon Sir Philip said it represents a “significantly better” outcome than the schemes entering the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

Sir Philip said: "I have today made a voluntary contribution of up to £363m to enable the trustees of the BHS Pension schemes to achieve a significantly better outcome than the schemes entering the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), which was the goal from the outset.

"The settlement follows lengthy, complex discussions with the Pensions Regulator and the PPF, both of which are satisfied with the solution that has been offered.

"To achieve a significantly better outcome than entering the PPF, the contribution required to achieve this long-term solution was arrived at by the actuaries for both The Regulator and the trustees.

"All relevant notices, including legal matters and claims from the regulator, have been withdrawn bringing this matter to a conclusion."

The collapse of BHS led to 11,000 job losses and threatened the pensions of 20,000 former workers.

It sparked a lengthy parliamentary inquiry and left its high-profile former owners potentially facing a criminal investigation.

MPs investigating the sale of BHS last year labelled Sir Philip the "unacceptable face of capitalism" for selling the high street store to former bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1.

Sir Philip added: "Once again I would like to apologise to the BHS pensioners for this last year of uncertainty, which was clearly never the intention when the business was sold in March 2015.

“I am also happy to confirm that any of the pensioners that have faced cuts over the last year will now be brought back to their original BHS starting level pension and will all be made whole. I hope that this solution puts their minds at rest and closes this sorry chapter for them.”