Former BHS boss Dominic Chappell claims he went ‘above and beyond’ to help Pensions Regulator

The man who bought failing department store BHS for £1 in 2015 said he went "above and beyond" to assist the pensions watchdog in its enquires after the business collapsed.

After Dominic Chappell's Retail Acquisitions bought BHS from Philip Green in March 2015, the business collapsed a year later, leaving an enormous pensions black hole of £500m.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) then demanded vital documents from Chappell, which it said he failed to provide after three requests.

This led to him being charged with neglecting or refusing to provide documents, a crime he was prosecuted and fined for in January.

But Chappell launched an appeal against the conviction this week, and at Hove Crown Court yesterday said he had done everything in his power to provide TPR with the information it needed.

"We went above and beyond what was required to get the information for the TPR," he said.

"I spent tens of thousand of pounds on this and hundreds of man hours trying to get the information."

The former BHS boss also said he could not cope with the "avalanche" of files the Pensions Regulator needed, which he was juggling with additional requests from BHS's administrator, the Insolvency Service and a Parliamentary Select Committee.

He also claimed he had been locked out of the BHS offices and had no access to the documents.

"I genuinely wanted to assist the TPR as much as possible," he added. "It was in my interests to assist the TPR.

"I employed lawyers who were trying to get the documentation for them. I could have said I can’t comply."