Two former BHS directors have been ordered to pay creditors of the retailer at least £18million over their role in the collapse of the chain in 2016.
A 533-page high court judgement found Lennart Henningson and Dominic Chandler liable for wrongful trading, misfeasance trading and misfeasance over their management of BHS.
BHS went into administration in 2016 with over £1billion worth of trading liabilities and pension debts.
Judgement: Two former BHS directors, Lennart Henningson and Dominic Chandler, have been ordered to pay creditors of the retailer at least £18million
Sir Philip Green sold BHS to Dominic Chappell in March 2025 for £1. Under his ownership in 2026, the chain collapsed, with the loss of approximately 11,000 jobs.
This week, Mr Justice Leech ruled that Henningson and Chandler, who worked for Chappell’s firm Retail Acquisitions, had breached their corporate duties by continuing to trade despite knowing there was no reasonable prospect of BHS avoiding insolvency.
Henningson and Chandler must each pay £6.5million for wrongful trading and £5.6million between them for the misfeasance charges. Further payments could be required at a later date.
FRP Advisory, the firm acting as liquidator to BHS, brought the case against the two former directors on behalf of creditors owed money following the retailer’s collapse in 2016.
Amid the collapse of the chain, around 20,000 current and future pensioners faced ‘substantial cuts to their entitlements’, according to a 2016, Parliamentary Select Committee hearing.
On Wednesday, FRP Advisory, said: ‘The various proceedings initiated by the Liquidators since their appointment in 2016, which have most recently culminated in the Judgment this morning, have sought to readdress that balance and their work on many fronts has led to very substantial recoveries for the estate including, in particular, the Pension Protection Fund.’
Lynn Dunne, a dispute resolution partner at law firm Ashurst said: ‘The success of the wrongful trading claim and a finding that the directors acted in breach of their duty to promote the success of the company is a coup for the liquidators.’
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