Damaged Goods: The Rise and Fall of Sir Philip Green - The Sunday Times Bestseller

(Paperback)

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The gripping, jaw-dropping rise and fall of Sir Philip Green, the self-styled 'king of the high street' Sir Philip Green is no stranger to scandal. He was once hailed one of Britain's best businessmen and had prime ministers and supermodels on speed dial. But his reputation came crashing down when Oliver Shah uncovered the truth behind his doomed BHS deal. The collapse of British Home Stores left 11,000 employees without jobs and put 20,000 people's pensions at risk. Green eventually paid e363m towards the company's e571m pension deficit, but it wasn't long before he found himself in trouble again. In October 2018, Green was named as the business figure at the heart of Britain's #MeToo scandal. With accusations of sexual and racial harassment flooding the press, and with Topshop's pension deficit rising to almost double the figure that toppled BHS, can the retail tycoon survive yet another scandal In Damaged Goods, Oliver Shah, the award-winning journalist who first broke the BHS story, shines a light on Green's past and his uncertain future; this is the extraordinary account of the retail magnate Sir Philip Green's fall from grace.

Reviews

From the glitzy parties to the threatening phone calls, the larger-than-life characters to the speedy downfall, this real-life tale of hubris has all the elements of a Greek tragedy. Either that or a James Graham box office hit -- Alys Key * City A.M. *
Superb. It manages to be both forensic and pacey. It's penetrating, but it's not unfair. If there is a benefit of doubt to be given, Shah gives it. * Simon English, Evening Standard *
A sweeping, detailed colourful account of the rise and fall of the king of the UK's High Street, complete with a Dickensian cast of grifters, charlatans, flunkies, the odd dogged hero, and an irresistibly obnoxious protagonist. Shah has written a hard-hitting, often funny, ultimately sobering tale of how fortunes were made and lost in late 20th and early 21st century Britain. * Andrew Hill, Financial Times *
Meticulously researched... it's entertaining stuff, pacily written. Filled with colourful characters - and expletives. * Ian King, The Times *
Brilliantly researched and sensational. The book reads as though it is on speed: there are moments when Shah's narrative runs like a frantic James Bond script interspersed with moments of Shakespearean farce. There are times you have to prick yourself to remember that Green's wheeling and dealing is not fiction but what actually took place behind the closed doors of the High Street * Maggie Pagano, Reaction *
A detailed and entertaining dismantling of the 'king of the high street' * Tim Adams, Guardian *
A merciless, profanity-strewn dissection of the tumultuous career of UK retail tycoon Philip Green -- Andrew Hill * FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award *

Author Bio

Oliver Shah is the award-winning Business Editor of the Sunday Times and one of the most respected national commentators on business and the high street. He was named business journalist of the year at both the Press Awards and London Press Club Awards in 2017 for his investigation into Sir Philip Green. Shah studied English at Cambridge University and journalism at City University before joining City AM in 2009 and the Sunday Times in 2010. Starting out at the newspaper as a retail correspondent, Shah became City Editor in 2016 and was recently promoted to Business Editor.