Sir Philip Green, Great Britain’s 16th richest man, may be selling off BHS Group, which he bought in 2000, because of the company’s continued losses, as reported by the BBC. BHS, whose brands include TopShop, Burton and Evan posted a 3.5% decline in annual profit. BHS is part of the Arcadia group, which has 180 stores with 12, 000 employees. A spokesman for Arcadia says the company has been approached with several offers in the past few months.
Nick Bubb, independent retail analyst, told the BBC, “BHS has clearly been driven into the ground by relentless competition from Primark and by its own addiction to discounting which has destroyed its pricing power. The worrying losses at BHS now risk dragging down the whole of Arcadia, so after a difficult autumn season, it is no wonder the great man is trying to cut it loose.”
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Sir Philip Green was born in Croydon, south London to a successful Jewish property developer and retailer. When Philip was attending a Jewish boarding school, Carmel College in Oxfordshire, his father passed away suddenly, leaving him to inherit the family business at the age of 12. When he was 15, he worked as a shoe importer, and started his own business importing jeans from the Far East to sell in London.
