A former senior executive at Harrods under Mohamed Al Fayed has denied claims he pulled out of becoming the boss of department store Fenwick, saying instead that the company stopped the move.
Nigel Blow was announced as Fenwick’s new chief executive earlier this year but on Wednesday Fenwick said that he had “informed” it that he would no longer take up the role of chief executive. Mr Blow had worked at Harrods under Mohamed Al Fayed between 1992 and 2007, but says he “never heard about or witnessed” alleged sexual abuse under Mr Al Fayed. The former Harrods and Fulham FC owner, who died last year at the age of 94, has been accused of multiple sexual assaults after a investigation was published last month.
Mr Blow has now issued a statement, claiming the historic North East retailer had “withdrawn” its job offer.
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He said: “I was very excited to join Fenwick and take on the significant challenge of turning the business around to profitability after a run of poor, loss-making, results in recent years. Disappointingly, Fenwick seems to have found me ‘guilty by association’ in light of the understandable furore concerning the reported behaviour of Harrods’ former owner Mohammed Al Fayed.
“I believe Fenwick’s action is unjustified, unfair and in breach of contract.
“Like many others, I watched the recent BBC documentary about Al Fayed’s behaviour with absolute horror. I worked at Harrods in senior roles from 2002 to 2007. I can confirm that, during my time at the business, I never heard about or witnessed any such behaviour by Mr Al Fayed.”
Mr Blow had been CEO of southern based retail chain Morleys, but he resigned in July after being tempted by the top job at Fenwick. His appointment was announced on July 30 and he was due to start on October 17. Mr Blow said that in September, after allegations against Mr Al Fayed emerged, he was questioned by Fenwick bosses about his “possible knowledge” of them.
He said he “assured them I had absolutely no knowledge of any of the allegations”. He added that Fenwick chairman Sian Westerman told him on September 30 that the company “’was not able to proceed’ with my employment as CEO of Fenwick... in order to safeguard the reputation of the Fenwick business”.
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He added: “The decision was theirs, not mine.”
Fenwick declined to comment aside to refer to its original statement, which said that “Nigel Blow has informed us that he will no longer be taking up this position.”