- Lennart Henningson and Dominic Chandler found responsible for illicit trade
Two former BHS directors have been ordered to pay the retailer’s creditors at least £18 million for their role in the chain’s 2016 collapse.
A 533-page high court ruling found Lennart Henningson and Dominic Chandler liable for unlawful trading, misappropriation of business and embezzlement in their management of BHS.
BHS went into administration in 2016 with more than £1 billion in trading liabilities and pension debts.
Judgment: Two former BHS directors, Lennart Henningson and Dominic Chandler, have been ordered to pay the retailer’s creditors at least £18m.
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 Retail Acquisitions firm, 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 £6.5 million for unlawful trading and £5.6 million between them for misconduct charges. Additional payments may be required at a later date.
FRP Advisory, the firm acting as liquidator of BHS, brought the case against the two former directors on behalf of creditors who were owed money following the retailer’s collapse in 2016.
Amid the chain’s collapse, 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, culminating recently with this morning’s Judgment, have sought to restore that balance and their work on many fronts has led to very substantial results.” . recoveries of assets, including, in particular, the Pension Protection Fund.”
Lynn Dunne, dispute resolution partner at law firm Ashurst, said: “The success of the wrongful trading claim and the conclusion that the directors acted in breach of their duty to promote the success of the company is a blow to the liquidators”.
