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BHS staff owed millions by floundering chain

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The demise of British Home Stores seems long over due. Its decline has been evident for sometime and there seemed to be little attempt on the part of the firm’s owners to try and circumvent the tailspin. Nevertheless, 11,000 members of staff are now waiting to hear if a buyer can be found to revive the chain in order to save the jobs. 

Despite the company only having gone into administration earlier in the week, several current and former employees have already registered as creditors ahead of the firm’s negotiations to enter a creditors voluntary arrangement (CVA) to avoid being declared insolvent earlier this year due to its £1.3billion liabilities, including more than a £570million pension deficit.

Creditors

Of the thousands of creditor names detailed in a CVA report filed to Companies House by the chain, the bulk of those listed are individuals owed from less than £100 to several thousand pounds each.

These include a menswear buyer for BHS based in London since July 2013, who is owed £2,627.

A manager at the St Helens BHS branch, was owed £1,544 and another manager, based at BHS in Liverpool, was owed £2,494, at the time of the CVA, the Daily Express reported.

Larger creditors include store landlords such as real estate firms Land Securities, Legal and General, and Prudential, who are collectively owed around £450m.

Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.

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