Thursday 26 May 2016 5:43 pm

BHS inquiries have “prompted more questions than answers”

The two inquiries set up to investigate the BHS fiasco have unearth more questions than they have answers, the chair of one of the committees involved said today.

Frank Field, who chairs the Work and Pensions committee, has written to Goldman Sachs’ Anthony Gutman, who appeared at an evidence session on Monday, and Arcadia Group for further details on the sale of the high street retailer.

The committee will also be writing to Chris Martin, the current chair of BHS Pension Fund Trustees who gave evidence at a hearing on Wednesday, and to the Pensions Regulator, representatives from which were some of the first to provide evidence in the inquiry timeline.

"We have already asked nearly 1,000 questions in our hearings," said Field. "So far they have prompted more questions than answers.

"These requests for information are the first steps of the next stage of our inquiry. We expect these documents to shed further light on the sorry tale of BHS before our sessions with Dominic Chappell and Sir Philip Green. Yet despite all the complexities it is now clear that Sir Philip called all the main shots."

BHS was put into administration last month, putting around 11,000 jobs at risk, bringing down the manufacturer of Pretty Polly tights and sparking two parliamentary inquiries, one from the Work and Pensions committee and one from the Business, Innovation and Skills committee.

Although the inquiries are separate, much of the evidence is being taken jointly because of the amount of crossover involved.

Both Dominic Chappell and Sir Philip Green are also due to appear before the MPs to tell their side of the story. Retail Acquisitions, which Chappell is the largest shareholder of, purchased the retailer from Green for £1 last year.

Both Gutman and Arcadia Group have been asked to provide the details requested by next week.