Philip Green: days of anger, shouting, abuse and threats
Philip Green revels in his reputation as an operator and a high-living hardman with a razor wit and a hot temper. At Bhs he is said to have made the fastest £1bn in business history.
Three weeks ago, with Mr Green working on plans to slap in a huge bid for Safeway, Britain's fourth biggest supermarket chain, which can lay claim to 10% of the grocery market and 92,000 staff, the Guardian asked journalist Ian Griffiths to take a look at Mr Green's published accounts. Mr Griffiths is a former City editor of two newspapers and a qualified auditor. His brief was to look at information filed at Companies House and ascertain whether the Bhs business is worth £1bn.
Mr Griffiths' analysis found that Mr Green has engineered a very impressive turnaround of the business, but raised some queries. Last Wednesday we called Mr Green to tell him about the article. We asked him to provide responses to a short series of questions concerning the accounts.
His reactions over the three following days were anger, shouting, abuse and threats of litigation:
PG: "How can you write an article if you don't understand the information? That's pretty fundamental. The only thing you did half intelligent in the last 48 hours is phone me up..."
Guardian: "Well, we are trying to get it right..."
PG: "Well get yourselves a fucking accountant, and send him round to my office. Have the Guardian or the Observer got an accountant?"
Guardian: "Well, the guy who wrote it is an accountant."
PG: "He is not a fucking accountant... The man can't read, Julia [Julia Finch, City editor]."
Guardian: "Please don't shout..."
PG: "Has your firm, your newspaper, got a firm of auditors?"
Guardian: "Yes."
PG: "Good. Who are they?"
Guardian: "Why?"
PG: "Because I want to deal with them. Because they will understand accounts. I don't want to deal with some dickhead, ex-Independent journalist that can't read. I don't need to."
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PG: "You are really gonna try my patience, you know that?"
Guardian: "Well, I quite understand ...."
PG: "I've got two bankers on my fucking board ..."
Guardian: "Right."
PG: American director of Barclays fucking Capital, Chris Coles, and Robin Saunders, together with Allan Leighton as my chairman. But the profits are fictitious? Sober up!"
Guardian: "We are not suggesting that the profits are fictitious."
PG: "You are!"
Guardian: "No we are not."
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PG: "Is this the Beano or the Guardian? Shall I tell you something? You know what the shame is? If the laws of this country were like America, right? I'd love you to print that because I'd be able to close you down, put you out of your misery. I've never read a bigger load of bollocks in my life. I've never read such - I'm gonna send this to my lawyers, because it is laughable."
Guardian: "In what way?"
PG: "You don't know what the fuck you are reading. And nor does this Ian Griffiths. You want to fucking sack him. You haven't got a fucking clue. Do you want some lessons? Get in your car, come to my fucking office... You can't read, you people. You shouldn't be allowed to write fucking newspapers"
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PG: "It is a shame the laws in this country for libel are as pitiful as they are..."
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PG: For fuck's sake. Jesus Christ. Robin Saunders and Chris Coles are on my board. Allan Leighton is my chairman. I've got a fucking audit committee that I am not on. And Ian Griffiths, some old cunt from the Independent, knows more than all those people. Please. Go and write about someone else. Do yourself a favour
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PG: "He [Paul Murphy, financial editor] can't read English. Mind you, he is a fucking Irishman."
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PG: "If you go to my accounts it says in there cash generated £143m. Does he think I got it out of a fucking sack at Christmas? The man [Ian Griffiths] can't read."
Guardian: "Would you be prepared to talk to him?"
PG: "I don't want to have to go through this crap. That's why I'm private."
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PG: "I don't want to speak to Paul Murphy. He's a fucking idiot. He can't read."
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PG: "We don't want to hear from your newspaper again, ever. Is that uncomplicated? We don't want to deal with you. We don't need to, and we are not going to... As far as I am concerned, I am happy to satisfy this question. Then the Guardian is off my menu. Goodbye."