M&S: Powers behind the throne

PHILIP Green is one of the few entrepreneurs with the financial muscle to mount a credible bid for Marks & Spencer.

He has a long-standing relationship with corporate financier Peter Cummings at HBOS, which backed his bid for Arcadia with an undisclosed amount of loan capital. The bank refused to say whether it would put up funds for his assault on M&S.

Barclays Capital also made an unsecured loan to Bhs of £250m, partly to finance a £201m dividend taken by Green last year.

Scottish tycoon Tom Hunter, who has a stake in Bhs, is another FOP - friend of Philip - but West Coast Capital, his private equity outfit, is apparently not involved in the Marks foray.

Retail gossips suggest Green may have lined up cash from some rich Russians. His most headline-grabbing backer is banker Robin Saunders, a major supporter of his audacious takeover of Bhs.

She led the principal finance division of German bank WestLB, which put up most of the £200m Green borrowed then.

Saunders took a personal stake of 0.5% in Bhs and, for a time, a seat on the board. She has since left WestLB.

But Saunders, a multimillionairess in her own right, is being touted in the City as a possible backer for the M&S attack.

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