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LIONHEART Yacht – Enchanting $150M Superyacht

LIONHEART yacht is a 90-metre (295 ft) motor yacht built by Benetti in Italy. She was delivered in July of 2016 to the current owner who recently sold his brands Topshop and Selfridges, gaining him a net worth of US $2.4 billion.

LIONHEART features a sleek and modern design with space for up to 12 guests and 30 crew members. Her home berth lies in Monaco, which is where Green and his family spend most of their time.

LIONHEART yacht interior

The LIONHEART yacht features a lot of intricate details in its design that make her stand out from other comparable vessels on the market.

The interior of this yacht had exceptionally high-quality materials used in her construction, which gives her an elegant look and feel throughout all the different spaces on board. 

The design house Green & Mingarelli is responsible for the luxurious interior design of LIONHEART.

The LIONHEART yacht can welcome 12 guests in her six cabins as well as a crew of 30 members of staff. 

The interior of the yacht features a beach club, a beauty salon as well as expansive health and wellness facilities that include a spa, a hairdressing salon, a gym with a personal trainer, and a massage room with a masseur available at all hours.

The different floors of the yacht are connected by an elevator, and of course, the yacht has several pools, two of which are located on the upper decks. 

A grand staircase is situated in the center of the yacht, which gives the vessel the likeness of a luxury hotel. The interior is furnished with exclusive furniture with dark wood and cream upholstery.

The yacht features several sizable chandeliers and other extravagant lighting fixtures. Everything about the interior of LIONHEART is lavish and luxurious, flaunting the US $150 Million price tag that this incredible vessel bears.

Specifications

The LIONHEART yacht is 90 meters (296 ft) long with a beam of 14.4 meters (47.3 ft) and a draft of 7.5 meters (24.9 ft). She was built by Benetti Yachts in Livorno, Italy, and launched in 2016.

At the time, LIONHEART was Benetti’s flagship and the largest yacht they had ever produced, overtaking NABILA (later TRUMP PRINCESS owned by Donald Trump).

Her gross tonnage lies at 2,990 GT, reaching cruising speeds of 15 knots and maximum speeds of 16 knots.

She is definitely not the fastest yacht in her size category, but her caterpillar engines are reliable and robust.

LIONHEART has an immense aluminum superstructure, and her hull was constructed from premium steel. Her traditional teak decks nicely contrast her white exterior.

The LIONHEART yacht is values at US $150 million and has annual running costs of US $10-$15 Million. She is not currently available for charter or for sale, although Green’s other yachts are.

The exterior of the LIONHEART yacht was designed by Stefano Natucci, who was also responsible for LIONESS V, Green’s previous yacht by Benetti.

Natucci has designed a total of 45 yachts, the LIONHEART yacht being the largest of his past projects.

The yacht is fitted with a sophisticated stabilizer system that ensures a comfortable experience for guests when at anchor or underway. She has a total of four decks featuring generous outdoor spaces. 

The front of the bow has room for a small helipad where aircraft can land to pick up or drop off guests.

The top deck has an outdoor bar and jacuzzi, and behind the flybridge, there is a large pool.

All decks have luxurious outdoor seating with cream upholstery which is also the color of the crew uniforms aboard the LIONHEART yacht. 

At the aft, the yacht has a sizable beach club and extendable swimming platform where water toys can be launched.

She also has several smaller, shaded decks with ample space for dining or parties. On both her port and starboard sides, Lionheart has small balcony decks which are attached to two of the suites.

Toys and equipment

The LIONHEART yacht carries several tenders, although her most memorable is a VanDutch 55 named Lioncub.

This tender has a black and white photograph of a lion painted on its side, making it stand out from traditional tenders and attracting yacht spotters.

LIONHEART also has a Pascoe Limousine, a Pascoe Beachlande, and a Pascoe Outboard Shuttle giving her passengers a wide selection of transportation options for shore leave or excursions.

Although exact details aren’t known, the yacht carries a large number of water toys, including jet skis and water bobs.

With a large swimming platform at the back of the vessel and an attached beach club with a lounge area, a luxury that might be desired is available to her guests.

Additional information

Construction for LIONHEART began in 2012 after the owner Green commissioned his third yacht from Benetti .

The two previous vessels were also named LIONHEART but have since been renamed LUMIERE and LIONESS V. 

LUMIERE was built in 1999 and has a length of 49.9 meters (164 ft). Green sold her when he obtained LIONHEART V in 2006, and she is now available for charter.

LIONESS V has a length of 63.5 meters (208 ft) and was replaced by LIONHEART in 2016, 10 years after her launch. 

Interestingly all three vessels can welcome the same number of guests, and only their amenities and length changed over the years.

LIONESS V is still owned by the Green family, more specifically Tina Green. This yacht is available for charter.

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Sir Philip Green and his wife Tina pictured enjoying £100million superyacht just days before the first BHS stores will close forever

Features on the 'floating palace' include a pool, a helipad, a bar and hot tubs

• ROBERT FISK
• Published : 16:46, 18 Jul 2016
• Updated : 17:37, 18 Jul 2016

TOPSHOP tycoon and his wife Tina have been soaking up the Maltese sunshine on their “floating palace” Lionheart – which cost £4million more than he invested in BHS during his last five years in charge.

The 300ft vessel features a helipad, a pool and luxury cabins for 12 guests.

It is definitely the jewel in the crown of the Green’s collection – which already includes two other superyachts and two private jets.

Other features on the new boat, which Tina Green helped design, include a gym, spa, beauty salon, three lifts, hot tubs and outside bar.

Together with her business partner Pietro Mingarelli she has come up with a sumptuous interior so her and her friends can enjoy the life of luxury on the ocean waves.

No expense has been spared including, Mail Online reports, a gold statue of Buddha which was handcrafted in Jaipur, India, and then flown to the yacht.

A single armchair from their Monaco-based yacht and private jet interior design company, Green and Mingarelli, is said to cost £16,000 with cushions fetching up to £3,500 each.

And it is reported Mr Mingarelli had the yacht stewardesses going in to every guest cabin and having a shower before its maiden voyage – to test temperature controls and the water pressure.

The 40 crew of the yacht include the stewards and stewardesses, deck hands, first mate, bosun, engineers and the captain – with the tax-free wages starting at £2,500 a month for the deckhands, with food and lodging included.

Sir Philip and his wife are expected to remain on the yacht all summer, hundreds of miles away from where MPs are investigating BHS’s collapse.

A damning report into the retailer’s demise is expected to be published next week by the business and pensions committees.

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The Topshop tycoon has written a letter to the business and pensions committees defending his ownership of the department store chain.

In the letter he outlines more than £400 million of investment into BHS and claims he pushed for a "sustainable solution" for the firm's troubled pension scheme.

He also says he offered to put up £5million to back up a rescue bid for BHS from billionaire Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley.

Sir Philip Green said: "The purchase would include buying all of the stock, for which Mr Ashley offered to pay £10 million.

"This amount was not acceptable to the administrators.

“It appeared that £15 million to close the deal would work and I therefore offered the additional £5 million to help the business be sold as a going concern."

But Work and Pensions Committee chairman Frank Field said: "Sir Philip is aware we are writing our report and is suddenly volunteering all manner of last-minute assistance."

In response, Sir Philip said: "Frank Field never ceases to surprise me. I was merely responding to the questions in a letter that he signed."

A Westminster insider also told the Press Association: "The committee gets the feeling that Sir Philip, having tried to exert his control over the process, is now understanding that the report will be damning and is attempting to vindicate himself by sending over large swathes of documents."

Sir Philip's reputation has taken a battering since BHS collapsed in April, leaving behind a £571 million pension deficit and putting 11,000 jobs at risk.

He has come under fire for taking £400million in dividends from the company during the 15 years he owned it, before selling it to former bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1.

The pictures also come as the first 20 BHS stores are set to close on Saturday.

Administrators say they will try to find temporary work in other BHS stores nearby for the 580 affected by the closures.

Last ditch efforts are being made to try and find a buyer for the remaining 143 stores.

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The £100m superyacht, the gold Monopoly set and a desire for respect – the world according to Sir Philip Green

The rocky Greek island of Skopelos has much to recommend it for visiting plutocrats. As well as its stunning scenery and wholesome food, most of its pristine beaches can only be accessed from the sea by those with, for example, a £100m superyacht decked out with a solid gold buddha and cushions costing as much as others might spend on an entire sofa.

As the 90m Lionheart – the latest gem in Sir Philip Green’s transportational crown – yesterday glided into dock on its Mediterranean maiden voyage, it was possible that its owner was seeking the sort of isolation that blocks out not only prying telephoto lenses but also excoriating condemnation from MPs 2,000 miles away in the Palace of Westminster.

“It’s not anyone’s business what I spend my money on – but for the record, I don’t think I’m flash.” Sir Philip Green, interviewed in 2004

“Unacceptable face of capitalism”

But the knight of the realm, now adorned by MPs with the additional title of “unacceptable face of capitalism”, is not backwards about coming forwards when riled and last night responded to  the withering criticism of his oversight of BHS and and the £571m hole left in the BHS pension fund by saying he was the victim of a “biased and unfair process”.

Sir Philip’s insisted that he was “sad and sorry” about the likely loss of jobs for his former BHS staff but said he had sold the retail chain “one hundred per cent in good faith” and left it on a viable financial footing.

The 64-year-old is also steadfast in his insistence on enjoying the finer things in life and ensuring he has the bank balance to do so. Once one particular ten-year loan made by a company held in his wife Tina’s name is paid off in 2019, the interest and returned capital would comfortably buy two more Lionhearts.

Everything must go

From the solid gold personalised Monopoly based on his fashion empire given to him for his 50th birthday to the two private jets he operates to transport himself and his family, tales exemplifying Sir Philip’s conspicuous consumption are as legion as the “Everything Must Go” signs currently adorning BHS stores ahead of their final closure this month.

With notable ill-timing, the swashbuckling maverick of the British high street last month took delivery of the four-storey Lionheart after Lady Tina and her business partner spent significant sums perfecting the fixtures and fittings of its 12 state rooms and facilities including a beauty salon, gym and bar. The vessels joins an inventory that includes two other yachts and a helicopter, along with the jets used to commute between his home and Monaco and London.

The couple’s combined wealth of £3.2bn has famously been used to finance lavish hospitality. For his 50th birthday, Sir Philip flew some 200 guests to Cyprus for a three-day party that included bringing in Michael Aspel to deliver a “This Is Your Life” episode for the birthday boy. The 60th birthday celebrations in 2012 were  modest by comparison, apparently involving performances by Stevie Wonder and Rihanna in Mexico at a total cost of £3m.

The head of the Arcadia group, which includes such names as Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, insists he is manifesting the instinctive, networking personality that helped him accrue his billions and employ upwards of 40,000 people. It is a mercurial mixture – he revealed in the wake of his unsuccessful £9bn bid for Marks and Spencer in 2004 that the deal had nearly foundered not because of his unwillingness to offer more money but because the Bulgari pen he had used to sign every business deal for the previous 12 years had gone missing. It eventually turned up but Sir Philip decided to walk away anyway.

Boarding school

The businessman, who was born in Croydon, south London, and learnt the ropes working for his mother’s garage but also attended a private boarding school, is unapologetic about his lifestyle. He once told an interviewer: “It’s not anyone’s business what I spend my money on – but for the record, I don’t think I’m flash.”

Indeed, Sir Philip and Lady Green reportedly feel unfairly singled out over the demise of BHS and besmirched over the plight of the company’s pension fund investors, who face a shortfall of £571m which the “King of Retail” has pledged to help resolve.

All of which highlights two further telling aspects of Sir Philip’s personality – his desire for respect and his fear of failure.

Shortly after his purchase of BHS – and prior to the payment of the £1.2bn dividend from the chain sharply criticised by MPs – a lifelong friend of the billionaire said: “Philip is at the stage in his life where he has practically achieved everything he wants and has universal respect – the respect is even more important to him than the money.”

The billionaire later added: “I’ve read lots of books on great entrepreneurs, and it’s always the one deal too far that gets them into trouble.”

Somewhere on a yacht in Greece, the man dubbed “Sir Shifty” will be doubtless contemplating perhaps his most audacious business coup yet – how to fix the BHS pension fiasco and persuade a sceptical audience that he has not finally met his deal too far.

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Sir Philip Green's luxury holiday is a brutal contrast compared to the the reality of his BHS casualties

The billionaire is cruising around the Med on his luxury yacht Lionheart while his former BHS empire crumbles and leaves lives in tatters

• 21:47, 25 Aug 2016

This week, while Sir Philip Green cruised around the Greek islands in Lionheart, his £100million super yacht, staff at his former company British Home Stores were valiantly keeping the last shops afloat.

The contrast couldn’t have been more brutal.

As the billionaire’s opulent boat docked in Ithaca, Greece, shoppers at BHS in Harrow, North West London, were picking over the bones of a once proud store.

Remaining stock was all piled together on one floor and looked depressingly forlorn. Women pushed trolleys full of soft ­furnishings and men rummaged through the bargain light fittings.

Lonely jars of food sat on near-empty shelves, giving the shop the air of a post-apocalyptic jumble sale.

The real Lionhearts were not out in the Ionian sea but there in Harrow.

There should have been no morale left on that godforsaken shop floor, but staff remained friendly and professional to the end.

“We’re not going to be beaten,” a mother of two called Jackie told me. “I’ve worked for BHS for 23 years. We’ll keep on smiling until the end. The morale in here is brilliant.”

That is until Sunday, when it closes its automatic doors for good.

Harrow is one of the last BHS stores standing – one of just 22 of the original 128 shops, left open this week to sell the last of the stock.

Everything is for sale, even the shelves, filing cabinets and mannequins. Jackie says around 50 staff were left.

“The weekend after we close, we’re doing a staff day trip to ­Bournemouth and we’ll all have a meal.”

If that seems a fitting end to a business that once prided itself on being a family store, it’s no thanks to the former owners, who stand accused of wringing the pips out of the company and then tossing it and its workforce aside.

As well as the loss of 11,000 jobs, workers also face a £571million pensions deficit.

Like the vast majority of BHS staff losing their livelihoods, Jackie, 47, has no job to go to.

“For 88 years BHS has been on our high streets,” she says. “But the owners didn’t care about the company enough to save it.”

Jackie didn’t want to give me her surname. Staff told me they have been warned not to speak to the press and could forfeit severance pay.

I ask her what she thinks of Philip Green and the serial-bankrupt former racing driver Dominic Chappell, who Green sold the company to in March last year for £1.

“Bleep, bleep, bleep,” she says, before heading back into the stockroom.

Earlier, I had spoken to Lin Macmillan, 61, one of 22,000 BHS pensioners who now also faces an uncertain future.

Lin hasn’t worked for BHS since 1990, but she put more than 10 years into the company as assistant manager of the Lincoln and Aberdeen stores. Last week, the Edinburgh store – her local – was closed, and she was in tears thinking of the job losses and the humbling of a great British brand.

When BHS went into administration in April, its pension scheme had a £571m hole in it – more than the value of the company. Following a grilling by MPs on the Work and Pensions Select Committee, Green promised to “sort this”.

Then he went off on an extended holiday on the yacht he bought while BHS was suffering financial problems.

Lin, who now works for the Church of Scotland, says: “I feel absolutely disgusted and angry that while staff suffer, Philip Green is swanning around the Greek islands on a yacht the size of a football pitch. In contrast, a great number of his former staff will be lucky to have any kind of holiday at all this year.”

If Green fails to sort the pensions, Lin and others will be covered by the Pension Protection Fund, an industry-funded lifeboat scheme.

“This will mean the pensions of those of us who no longer work for the company don’t keep pace with inflation,” Lin says. “And people working for BHS when it closed will only get 90%.”

She is so incensed that she has set up a petition, “Sell the yachts and pay the pensions” on the Care2 petitions website.

“The Green family have more than one yacht, and you can only be on one yacht at once,” she says.

Even the BHS bargain-hunters at the Harrow store had nothing but contempt for Green and Chappell.

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” says Carl Berry, 51, who works at a homeless shelter. “BHS was an institution.” Pointing at his shirt, he adds: ­“Everything I’m wearing was bought from there.”

Lorna Brading, 80, says: “First ­Woolworths, now BHS. It’s wrong. It makes me very sad.”

Hundreds of miles away in Ithaca, where Homer based the Odyssey, Green is on board his floating palace. It is still in the billionaire’s power to give BHS’s treacherous journey a happy ending.

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Sir Philip Green Targeted By Comedian Lee Nelson In Yacht Prank

Lee Nelson sails up to the £100m vessel with a banner saying 'BHS Destroyer' and attaches it to the boat.

Wednesday 7 September 2016 11:46, UK

Sir Philip Green's newly built luxury superyacht Lionheart has been dubbed BHS Destroyer in a stunt by a British comedian.

Lee Nelson, who famously threw fake dollar bills at former FIFA president Sepp Blatter , has now targeted the billionaire peer.

Posting pictures of himself carrying out the stunt, Nelson tweeted: "Good of Sir Philip Green to rename his £100m yacht to something more appropriate. I was glad to help."

Sir Philip, former owner of the now-collapsed chain, is currently being investigated by regulators in a probe into BHS' vast pension deficit.

Last month, Sir Philip reacted angrily to attempts by Sky News to question him about the closure of BHS and the loss of thousands of jobs.

The former owner of the business was holidaying on his new yacht in the Greek islands.

Also in August, Sky News revealed he was seeking assurances regulators will abandon the probe if he makes a "voluntary" financial contribution to the retirement pots of thousands of the firm's former employees .

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The precise sum Sir Philip will have to contribute remains subject to weeks or even months of further negotiations, although experts say it will be at least £300m based on talks so far.

The tycoon promised to "sort" the deficit when he appeared before MPs in June, although he has since been criticised by parliamentarians over the lack of visible progress.

Approximately 11,000 people have seen their jobs disappear as a result of the collapse, with Sir Philip shouldering much of the blame in a critical report published by MPs last month.

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Shipwrecked: Sir Philip Green lounges on his superyacht off Monaco as high street fashion empire Arcadia hit the rocks... and he is already ditching his billionaire baubles

By Ruth Sunderland and Richard Eden for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:07 EDT, 27 November 2020 | Updated: 04:24 EDT, 28 November 2020

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Soaking up the sun on his £100 million superyacht under a fur-lined blanket, Sir Philip Green appears not to have a care in the world.

This picture was taken off Monaco this week, before yesterday’s revelation that his retail empire was teetering on the brink of collapse, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.

The 68-year-old tycoon’s Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins and other brands, is in crisis talks and could appoint administrators as soon as Monday if no rescue is agreed.

Sir Philip Green, pictured on his £100m superyacht earlier this week is facing the prospect this weekend of seeing his Arcadia Group collapse into administration on Monday putting 13,000 jobs at risk

Sir Philip, pictured, has refused to comment on claims that talks with lenders had collapsed with a spokesman suggesting 'a number of options' were still being worked on

Yesterday a spokesman insisted ‘a number of options’ were still being worked on but refused to comment on claims that talks with lenders had collapsed.

The turmoil marks a new low point for Green, the swashbuckling businessman once dubbed ‘King of the High Street’ now fighting to save his business.

It could be the biggest retail collapse of the pandemic so far, and unions say it ‘could not come at a worse time’ for staff as Christmas approaches.

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Arcadia’s 550 shops are expected to stay open even if the firm is placed into administration, allowing them to trade over the festive period before being carved up and sold off in the New Year.

The threat of administration follows his decision to sell department store chain BhS to serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell for just £1 in 2015. The deal provoked a storm of controversy, with the retailer collapsing just one year later.

It triggered a long-running row between Green and the pensions regulator about who would plug a mountainous hole in the BHS retirement scheme, with the tycoon eventually agreeing to cough up £360 million.

The Arcadia group could enter administration on Monday if no rescue deal is agreed placing 13,000 jobs at risk

Green, whose family is ranked 154th on the Sunday Times Rich List with a fortune of £930 million, took over Arcadia in 2002 for £850 million.

Just three years later, he infamously paid what was at the time the largest ever dividend — a staggering £1.2 billion — to his wife Tina Green, generating what was termed the ‘fastest billion in history’.

He splashed some of his vast fortune on a £46 million Gulfstream jet, and on the £100 million superyacht Lionheart where he was pictured this week — at 295ft-long, the vessel boasts a helipad, swimming pool, three lifts, six luxury cabins and a crew of 40.

When in London during his working week at the helm of his retail empire, Sir Philip roosted for years in a luxurious suite in the five-star Dorchester hotel.

Every Friday, he would fly in his jet to Monte Carlo, to spend the weekend with Tina, their yapping dogs and the rest of his family, bobbing around on Lionheart.

But now, the man who once bestrode the High Street like a squat colossus is licking his wounds.

He has given up his opulent rooms at the hotel that has been his base in the UK capital for more than a decade.

Green, whose family is ranked 154th on the Sunday Times Rich List with a fortune of £930 million, took over Arcadia in 2002 for £850 million

It was here, in the hotel on Park Lane, that he hosted his 65th birthday party three years ago.

The shindig was, by his standards at least, a muted affair for family and friends, overshadowed by the row over his sale of BHS.

Not that he had any choice in leaving The Dorchester. The Covid lockdown meant retaining the suite in the hotel was no longer possible. The virus, say friends, is also behind the potential collapse of Arcadia. They add that Green is ‘horribly sad’ about the situation.

‘It has been a long journey,’ said one. ‘The collapse is very much about Covid. When you have a lockdown of 500 stores for months, what else could you expect?’

The once-swaggering mogul has told friends he will send a letter to every member of staff thanking them for all they have done for the company and that he is ‘very hopeful’ the business will find a buyer.

He also hopes Arcadia’s pension fund deficit will be covered.

A notice on the window of the flagship Topshop and Topman store on Oxford Street updated customers on the latest developments of the Arcadia Group

Wife Tina, the official owner of his retail interests, has put in £50 million and committed another £50 million. The fund has an additional claim over £185 million of assets so he hopes the whole shortfall will be covered.

As well as being unable to stay in The Dorchester, Green is said to have stood down his personal security contingent. After the collapse of BHS with the loss of 11,000 jobs, the guards were needed to shield him against ill-wishers.

The garages in Camden, North London, where he kept his fleet of luxury cars, have apparently been sold to developers.

He and Lady Green are also said to be discreetly sounding out buyers over a magnificent townhouse she owns in Belgravia, one of London’s most exclusive enclaves.

She is believed to have spent millions renovating the property, with planning applications put in for lowering the basement floor, installing a glass roof and a new roof terrace.

Could the collapse of Arcadia, which is expected to be confirmed officially next week, now drive the Greens out of Britain?

Friends say there is no question of him abandoning his native country.

Yet in truth Green, who retains his knighthood despite calls to strip him of the honour, has spent very little time here for several years. He is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of his troubled UK fashion companies and he and Tina are treated as social pariahs by many.

On the last occasion we spoke to him in person, he confided he had become a recluse and had been forced to hire a bodyguard for Tina when she is in London.

After being berated in a restaurant over BHS, he said: ‘I decided not to go out... it is devastating. I don’t go anywhere.’

Let’s not get the violins out too quickly, though. He may not dine out much, but Green is still a practitioner of the foul-mouthed phone call. As recently as a couple of days ago, he found time to bawl intimidating abuse at a colleague, over a few lines in an article to which the fashion mogul had taken exception.

The humbling of Green is one of the most spectacular downfalls in British business history.

He and Tina are now resigning themselves to life in a gilded cage aboard their floating gin palace.

It is understood Sir Philip and his wife Lady Tina are 'discretely sounding out buyers' for their £10m Mayfair mansion

Sources close to the couple say the only London asset they are keeping is the office on George Street, the headquarters of Argent, Tina’s interior design company.

Lady Green is said to have told close friends that she has been shunned in the snootier quarters of society and is said to worry about her husband’s health after years of heart trouble.

For now, the couple will spend their time in Monaco and cruising the Mediterranean. The sight of a portly Green on deck, with a tanned bare chest looking for all the world like a bronzed rotisserie chicken, is a familiar one.

He and Tina swanned around the Med on the deck of his yacht in the fateful summer of 2016 when BHS went under, with the paparazzi in hot pursuit.

But it is not only parts of London that have been unwelcoming. Friends say he has also been reluctant to go to America, where he has a plush home within the grounds of an expensive Arizona health spa, after he was accused of slapping and grabbing the buttocks of a personal trainer at the resort. Sir Philip strenuously denied the allegations.

A U.S. judge dismissed the case against him for the alleged groping in January, after his accuser, 38-year-old Katie Surridge, decided not to appear in court.

That unsavoury episode may be behind him and his descent from the King Midas of the High Street may be cushioned by life in a balmy tax haven.

The management of the group were yesterday insisting the pandemic was to blame for the company’s distress. Yet the business — like Green himself — was looking like a spent force well before the virus struck

But the Greens’ business record leaves them in danger of becoming socially distanced by the jet-set whose company they sought for so many years.

Green himself is notoriously thin-skinned to those who dare utter the slightest criticism of him or his business methods.

But it is likely to be Tina, who has been spied at the most exclusive Monaco parties, who feels the sting of ostracism the most.

In happier days, she hobnobbed with the Monegasque royal family, film star Robert Redford and other VIPs at lavish charity dinners in the principality.

The Greens have a penthouse in the Le Rocabella building on Avenue Princesse Grace, one of the most expensive streets in the world. Green is unapologetic about his and Tina’s wealth and the pair dismiss detractors as ‘jealous’. Arcadia’s implosion has been a long time coming, but there is no doubt it is a bitter blow for Green. Of course, any pain felt by the Greens is as nothing compared with the shock and anger of Arcadia’s ordinary staff.

The management of the group were yesterday insisting the pandemic was to blame for the company’s distress. Yet the business — like Green himself — was looking like a spent force well before the virus struck.

It had already been put into a Company Voluntary Arrangement, a form of insolvency that allows a company to carry on trading in the hope of pulling itself out of difficulty. As part of that, Green had put in place a £135million last-ditch plan to rescue the business, where profits had already plunged dramatically even before the pandemic.

And despite reassurances last year from Lady Green, there are still concerns about Arcadia’s pension fund deficit of some £300million, given the history with BHS. But it is not just his business affairs that have come to grief — Sir Philip has had trouble in his personal life, too.

Until the pandemic, Sir Philip held a luxury suite at the Dorchester Hotel, pictured 

There was 29-year-old daughter Chloe’s split last year from ‘hot felon’ Jeremy Meeks, 36. (One consolation Green has enjoyed is the delight he gets from their child, his first grandson, two-year-old Jayden. ‘Jayden is his main source of joy in a very dark moment,’ said a friend.)

Green was also accused this year of sexual harassment and racism towards members of his staff.

The ensuing scandal led to the loss of several female aides, including Karren Brady, who had been chairman of Arcadia’s ultimate parent company.

Green denied ‘any unlawful racist or sexist behaviour’ and eventually abandoned a fight to keep in place gagging orders over the allegations.

Who knows what Tina made of that, or what she will make of this latest disaster: whatever the couple’s travails, they have always at least seemed loyal to one another.

The pair will now have plenty of time to reflect on their glory days from the deck of their yacht — days that are long gone.

The Arcadia fashion fiefdom is now likely to be snapped up at a bargain price by one of his rivals, such as Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley, who admittedly has troubles of his own.

That would be quite a reversal, as Green has had a long-standing friendly rivalry with the younger Ashley. The pair call one another ‘Big Emp’ and ‘Little Emp’ — short for Emperor.

Green started off as Big Emp, but his power is rapidly shrinking. No matter what his remaining wealth, this is a bitter blow to the pride of a man who began his rollicking retail journey when he took on his first shop in 1979 at 41 Conduit Street, London.

The stock was bought at a rock bottom cost of 10p in the pound from a bankrupt chain called Originelle.

Now, it seems, the wheel is about to turn full circle.

How did the collapse of BHS play out? Timeline of high street scandal

2000 : Sir Philip Green buys British Home Stores for £200 million. It is rebranded as BHS.

2002 : BHS becomes part of the Arcadia retail empire after Sir Philip pays £840 million for the clothing chain which includes Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton.

2005 : The shop is beginning to lose pace as it is pitched against cheaper rivals such Primark.

Sir Phillip Green sits Kate Moss with her sister Lottie at the Unique by Topshop autumn/winter 2014/15 collection shown at London Fashion Week

2014 : BHS department stores start selling food with the aim for it to be about 10% cheaper on branded goods than the big four supermarkets which are already involved in a price war.

2014 : BHS makes a cash loss of £21 million in the year to August 2014, compared with £19.3 million in the year earlier.

2015 : Sir Philip sells BHS to Retail Acquisitions, led by former bankrupt Dominic Chappell, for £1. Work begins on a turnaround plan to try to bring it back into profitability.

2016 : The store is thrown a lifeline in March when creditors back two company voluntary arrangements (CVA) designed to cut costs and prevent widespread store closures.

2016 : BHS collapses into administration in April, sparking an investigation by MPs into Sir Philip and Mr Chappell.

2016 : Administrators fail to find a buyer for the firm and decide to wind the company down. Attention now turns to an MPs' inquiry into its demise.

2016 : MPs release a damning report into Sir Philip's sale of the high street chain and brand him the unacceptable face of capitalism. Sir Philip threatens legal action over the claims

2017 : Pensions Regulator announces a settlement worth up to £363million has been reached with Sir Philip Green 

Share or comment on this article: Sir Philip Green lounges on his superyacht off Monaco this week

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Sir Philip Green's yacht and other assets could be seized, says regulator

Pensions Regulator says courts could seize former BHS owner’s assets if he ignores legal demand to plug £571m pension deficit

Sir Philip Green’s assets, including his £100m superyacht, could be seized by the courts if he refuses to comply with a legal demand to cover the £571m deficit in the BHS pension scheme, the chief executive of the Pensions Regulator (TPR) has said.

Lesley Titcomb told the work and pensions select committee that a court would determine how to raise funds from the billionaire tycoon, including possible seizure of assets, if he does not pay up when a legal demand is issued, or reach a settlement with the regulator.

Titcomb said: “If we are talking about a contribution notice, that creates a normal legally enforceable debt to the scheme and it would then be the scheme trustees or the PPF [the Pension Protection Fund] who, with our full support in any way, shape or form we could offer, would seek to recover that debt through the courts. The courts would determine how that would be achieved.”

It is highly unlikely that Green’s yacht will be seized. However, one pensions expert said the “prospect of the bailiffs on the gangplank” might focus the retail tycoon’s mind on sorting out the BHS pension deficit.

A parliamentary investigation into the demise of the retailer found that BHS had been systematically plundered under its former owners Green and Dominic Chappell.

Green controlled the business for 15 years until he sold it to Chappell , a three-time bankrupt, for £1 in March 2015. Green, his family and other BHS shareholders collected at least £580m from the retailer, while Chappell’s company Retail Acquisitions was paid an estimated £17m .

TPR has started legal proceedings against Green, Chappell and their companies in an attempt to plug the pension deficit. It has issued warning notices to the former owners outlining why they are liable to support the pension scheme.

Green and Chappell now have the opportunity to respond to the warning notices before a determinations panel, an independent body within TPR, decides how much they must contribute to the BHS pension scheme. The determinations panel ruling is a legal demand, but could be appealed all the way to the supreme court by Green and Chappell.

Titcomb said the panel was unlikely to meet until the middle of next year and the “door remains open” to any settlement offers from Green.

TPR is understood be seeking at least £300m from Green and said it is yet to receive a “credible and comprehensive offer”. The tycoon is understood to have offered a deal worth about £300m, but involving a complex structure and payments over many years.

Titcomb declined to provide details of talks with Green, but said the regulator had to consider a range of factors in any pension deal. “It’s not just about money, it may be about the structure of any deals,” she said.

Pushed by Frank Field, the chair of the select committee, about whether TPR could demand assets from Green , particularly his family’s superyacht Lionheart , she said the regulator did not have the power to freeze assets and it would be for the courts to decide how to recover any unpaid legal demand.

On the makeup of any settlement or willing payment from Green to a legal demand, she said: “If there is a settlement or financial support directive, then essentially what we are looking for there is some form of support for the scheme, which could be cash, guarantees or some other structure.

“There is a great deal of flexibility there in terms of what could be taken into account. Having said that, whatever is proposed under either of these routes, we would have to be absolutely sure it is robust and doesn’t create a continuing risk to either the members of the scheme or the PPF. For example, we would want to ensure that any assets that were offered would be properly valued. We wouldn’t just take any offer.”

However, Green will almost certainly not offer the yacht as part of any settlement. If the courts are forced to chase cash from him, they can target a family empire estimated to be worth more than £3bn, which includes property in London and the retail business Arcadia, which owns Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge.

The courts could find it difficult to make legal claims on any of the Green family’s assets, given that many of these are under the name of Lady Green and part of a network of offshore companies unconnected to BHS.

Titcomb said: “Our warning notices are targeted at certain targets, so the debt would be collected against these targets and the court would have to go through the normal process of assessing that target’s assets.”

She said TPR was “relentlessly” pursuing the best possible outcome for the 20,000 members of the BHS pension scheme.

Tom McPhail, head of retirement policy at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the prospect of bailiffs seizing Green’s yacht would be “peculiarly appealing” to many people.

He said: “His failure to offer the regulator a comprehensive and credible deal on the BHS pension scheme six months on from his promise to ‘sort it out’ has left no option but to pursue legal enforcement.

“The process will take many months yet though and there is always the possibility that he will yet make an acceptable offer – just possibly the prospect of the bailiffs on the gangplank will focus his mind. In the meantime, the scheme members continue to enjoy the security of the PPF lifeboat scheme, with the hope that a better deal may eventually be secured on their behalf.”

• Philip Green
• Retail industry
• Dominic Chappell
• Pensions industry

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