BHS looks at food store launch to rival M&S

Sir Philip’s Arcadia empire, which also owns Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, has been looking at plans for a convenience outlet at BHS sites for the past year.

Around 150 BHS stores already have permission to sell food and Sir Philip is hoping to make a decision on whether to press ahead with the plans by the end of the year.

If the move gets the green light, it would put BHS in direct competition with the likes of M&S, which Sir Philip tried to buy in 2004.

It would also create a new challenger to the major supermarket chains, which are aggressively expanding their convenience food offerings.

BHS used to sell food before being bought by Sir Philip in 2000.

Speculation has mounted in recent days over takeover interest in the struggling department store chain, but Sir Philip said he was not in talks over a deal.

But he told the Financial Times it would be “idiotic” to rule out a sale of BHS.

Overseas suitors are reportedly circling BHS, with potential bidders said to include Christo Wiese, who is South Africa’s third richest man with a fortune estimated at £2bn, US private equity firm Apollo and a number of retail turnaround firms. Arcadia said sales had fallen 3.7 per cent since the end of August.