Harrods boss ‘dreadfully sorry’ for Al Fayed abuse
The boss of Harrods has personally apologised for the first time regarding the sexual abuse allegations against the department store’s former owner, Mohamed Al Fayed.
Managing Director Michael Ward told the BBC this week: “I am very dreadfully sorry for what has happened with Al Fayed.”
Ward, who worked alongside Al Fayed until 2010, previously stated he was unaware of any abuse.
He revealed in a statement in September that he did not know of the abuse at Harrods and that Al Fayed “presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct”, calling it a “shameful period”.
It came after hundreds of women alleged that Al Fayed raped or sexually abused them. Police are looking into some claims and Harrods is also settling more than 250 claims.
The women, who worked at Harrods from the late 1980s to the 2000s, said the assaults were carried out at the company’s offices, in Al Fayed’s London apartment or on foreign trips. Fayed sold Harrods and cut ties with the business in 2011.
The BBC uncovered the allegations in a documentary and podcast called Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods in September.
The current owners of Harrods have since said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations and that his victims had been failed – for which the luxury department store sincerely apologised.
It has also been investigating whether any of its current staff were “directly or indirectly involved” in in any of the allegations.
