BHS history: the retailer’s rise and fall

The demise of BHS — a one-time high street favourite that opened its doors in south-west London

1928 Group of US entrepreneurs opens a store in Brixton with the aim of emulating the success of Woolworths. Initially nothing cost more than a shilling at stores that sold lighting and had self-service cafés and food departments

1931 Lists on the London Stock Exchange

1985 Starts to franchise the brand overseas

1986 Merges with Habitat and Mothercare to form Storehouse plc

2000 Sir Philip Green buys British Home Stores for £200m from the Storehouse Group and rebrands it as BHS

2004 Sir Philip awards himself a £40m final dividend from BHS.

2005 Tina Green, Sir Philip’s wife, receives a £1.2bn dividend from Arcadia

2009 Arcadia buys BHS for about £200m

2011 Arcadia reports a 38 per cent drop in annual profits and announces plan to close up to 260 stores

2015 Sir Philip sells lossmaking BHS for £1 to Retail Acquisitions, led by Dominic Chappell, writing off £215m of debts in the process

March 2016 More than 95 per cent of landlords, suppliers and other creditors back the retailer’s company voluntary arrangement, a form of insolvency under which it can continue trading. Landlords agree to cut rents as BHS seeks to raise £100m from loans and property sales

April 22 Suffers delay in receiving a crucial £60m loan, jeopardising the rescue package

April 25 Files for administration after failing to secure a rescue, putting about 11,000 jobs at risk