Former Harrods boss reveals how ‘paranoid’ Mohamed al Fayed created toxic culture in store

A former Harrods executive told Sky News he could not see how the store’s security “would not have known” about Mohamed al Fayed’s behaviour towards women.

Five women have claimed they had been raped by Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, while several others accused him of sexual misconduct.

A legal team representing the alleged victims confirmed on Saturday morning that there have been “more than 150 new investigations” since a BBC documentary about Fayed aired.

The former Harrods director, who reported directly to Fayed, said: “There was security everywhere, all the phones and offices were tapped and there were cameras everywhere.

“I put it down to paranoia, wanting to know that he was getting his pound of flesh from us. The nature of the man was to pit everyone against each other, to pit executives against each other.

“Whether Fayed’s own offices or belongings were guarded, I don’t know. But to get into his office suite you had to have an appointment, PAs had to arrange it, it was very secure.”

He added: “The only thing I knew was that someone said he had a lot of PAs and they were all blonde. I thought he just wanted to surround himself with beautiful women.”

The former director, who spoke to Sky News on condition of anonymity, said the corporate culture at Harrods was toxic.

“It was mainly keeping your head down, nobody helped each other. It wasn’t a team because you knew Fayed was trying to catch everyone.

“He always tried to make fun of people in front of others, which he found very funny.”

Harrods said in a statement on Thursday that it was “deeply shocked” by the allegations of abuse and apologized to Fayed’s alleged victims.

The department store has also set up a page on its website inviting former employees to come forward with any allegations they may have.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has defended Sir Keir Starmer after it emerged the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) refused to bring charges against Fayed when the Prime Minister was Director of Public Prosecutions.

The CPS considered bringing charges against the former Harrods chairman in 2009 and 2015, but concluded that this was not the case. “a realistic prospect of a conviction”.

The minister told Sky News that tackling violence against women was a “personal priority” when Sir Keir headed the CPS as Director of Public Prosecutions between 2008 and 2013.

“I don’t know the details of what happened in 2009. Sometimes there can be issues with the evidence that the police present, and whether that can lead to a conviction,” Ms Phillipson said.

“The first time I got to know Keir Starmer was when I saw him on television as Director of Public Prosecutions, and he talked about the personal priority he places on tackling violence against women and girls. So he has a personal commitment to it.

“He has turned the CPS around while he was running it to focus on that. But if there are issues that need to be considered, then of course they should be considered.”

A Downing Street spokesman said Sir Keir was not dealing with Fayed’s case, adding that the matter “did not cross his desk”.

The CPS also provided early investigation advice to the Metropolitan Police in 2018, 2021 and 2023 following allegations against Fayed.

In none of these cases has the CPS been provided with a full file of evidence and no further action has been directed at them by the police.

Former Victims Commissioner Dame Vera Baird accused the CPS of only taking on “cases they could win” and said the organisation was “a a den of negativity for all the allegations of sexual abuse and the people who made them.”

She told Sky News: “They’ve always been judged on the percentage of cases they win. So you do 20 (cases) and you (win) 15 – 75%, that’s good. But if you only do 10 because 10 are really, really safe, then you get nine – that’s a super percentage of convictions.

“Their interests have been at odds with the interests of people who desperately needed the help of the criminal justice system to overcome the appalling way in which they were treated by their attackers. And now it is very clear that Mr Fayed was one of them.“

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She also said the way the CPS treated women may have influenced the decision not to charge Fayed.

“Women who come forward with these kinds of complaints are underestimated and undervalued. In a way, they are seen as a burden who is often volatile or emotionally unwell, especially because of the way they have been treated,” she said.

But Dame Vera defended Sir Keir for his progressive approach to violence against women when he was Director of Public Prosecutions.

“They did their best and so the CPS became the first government agency ever to have a strategy against violence against women and girls.

“Keir initiated a report from a highly respected barrister on how the CPS needed to systematically move away from the myths about prosecution and about sexual offences that were preventing them from progressing cases. That was a very powerful act.”

(c) Sky News 2024: Ex-Harrods boss reveals how ‘paranoid’ Mohamed al Fayed created toxic culture in store