Book in the news: the rise and fall of a high-street tycoon

Book review: The Inside Story of Sir Philip Green, the Collapse of BHS and the Death of the High StreetAn unflattering look at the role played by Philip Green in the collapse of BHS.

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Green with Beyonc (left) and Cara Delevingne
(Image credit: 2014 Getty Images)

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Portfolio Penguin, £18.99

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Philip Green is now a pariah due to his role in the bankruptcy of department-store chain BHS. So it is not surprising that Damaged Goods is sharply critical of him. It is also "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 [and] flunkies", says Andrew Hill in the Financial Times. The fall of BHS is the key theme of this "meticulously researched book", says James Gourley in The Sunday Times.

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However, Shah also looks at "the rise of Topshop to become a global brand", as well as "the increasingly glitzy functions and parties hosted by the tycoon, attracting everyone from Bill Clinton to Beyonc". Overall, he suggests that Green's biggest mistake was to try to transform himself from "a seriously underrated businessman with some interesting contacts to someone who was now mixing in a world of celebrities".

Both his parents were successful businesspeople who imbued him with"a close understanding of the stockmarket and an irrepressible chutzpah", says The Guardian's Tim Adams. Green also benefited from "the credit-card bonanza that fuelled a retail boom". But he would be brought low by his "inability to see change", especially the rise of online retailing.

Dr Matthew Partridge
Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri

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