Harrods boss tells BBC he is 'dreadfully sorry' for Al Fayed abuse

The brag of Harrods has personally apologised for the archetypal clip successful narration to intersexual maltreatment allegations against the store's precocious proprietor Mohamed Al Fayed.

The BBC approached Michael Ward astatine the Harrods office and helium said: "I americium precise dreadfully atrocious for what has happened with Al Fayed."

Hundreds of women person alleged the billionaire raped oregon sexually abused them. Police are looking into immoderate claims and Harrods is besides settling hundreds of claims.

Mr Ward, who has been managing manager of Harrods since 2005, worked alongside Al Fayed until 2010 and has antecedently said helium did not cognize of immoderate abuse.

Harrods caller owner, the Qatar Investment Authority, said an interior reappraisal was ongoing and declined to accidental whether it had identified oregon taken immoderate enactment against anyone presently moving there.

Al Fayed, who died past twelvemonth aged 94, was accused of intersexual assault by much than 20 women successful a BBC documentary and podcast successful September.

Hundreds of radical person contacted the BBC straight astir Harrods and Mohamed Al-Fayed since the documentary Al Fayed: Predator astatine Harrods aired.

More than 70 of those were from women who sent the BBC their accounts of maltreatment by Al-Fayed including intersexual harassment, intersexual battle and rape.

Mr Ward said successful a connection successful September that helium had stepped down from his relation arsenic a trustee of Royal Ballet and Opera portion the reappraisal astatine Harrods takes place.

He added successful the connection that helium did not cognize of the maltreatment astatine Harrods and that Al Fayed “presided implicit a toxic civilization of secrecy, intimidation, fearfulness of repercussion and intersexual misconduct", calling it a "shameful period".

He said nary ceremonial complaints had been brought to him during his clip with Al Fayed, though rumours of his behaviour were successful the "public domain".

The BBC had asked Mr Ward for an interrogation to effort and find retired what was known by elder unit astatine Harrods of the allegations astatine the clip but that was declined.

During the BBC's attack astatine the Harrods headquarters, Mr Ward said Harrods had "nothing further to add."

The maltreatment allegedly took spot astatine Fulham FC, the Ritz Hotel Paris, Harrods, arsenic good arsenic different places owned by Al Fayed.

Harrods antecedently told the BBC that it was successful the process of settling much than 250 claims for compensation brought by victims of Al Fayed. That fig has since risen to much than 290. The luxury section store has a compensation strategy for ex-employees who accidental they were attacked by Al Fayed, which is abstracted from the ineligible lawsuit against it.

Fayed owned Harrods betwixt 1985 and 2010. The store's caller owners person antecedently said they are "appalled" by the allegations of intersexual maltreatment and person been investigating since 2023 whether immoderate existent members of unit were involved.

Lawyers for immoderate of the victims said they were moving connected a assertion against the Al Fayed estate, arsenic good arsenic Harrods, adding they expected to nonstop hundreds much claims to the section store and that it would "snowball and snowball".

In 2008, allegations of indecent battle against a 15-year-old miss were made against Al Fayed and it was covered successful the property astatine the time. Al Fayed denied the claims, and the Crown Prosecution Service chose not to prosecute charges owed to conflicting evidence.

Last week the BBC revealed that the Met Police was told of allegations of intersexual battle by Mohamed Al Fayed a decennary earlier than it has acknowledged

The quality rights campaigner Dame Jasvinder Sanghera volition conscionable "as galore survivors arsenic possible" and usher them done the compensation process, according to the retailer.

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