More than £60million has been set aside to compensate alleged victims of abuse by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, it has been revealed.
The redress scheme, developed with law firm MPL Legal, opened for applications in March this year and will remain live until March 31 next year.
Funded by Harrods, the scheme is limited to compensate those who have claims of sexual abuse perpetrated by Mr Al Fayed.
It comes after Metropolitan Police said 146 women had come forward to report a crime as part of their investigation into the former Harrods boss, who owned the luxury store between 1985 and 2010 and died in 2023 at the age of 94.
Harrods have set aside £57 million to be used to compensate alleged victims, the BBC reported.
An extra £5.3million has also been reserved to cover legal and administrative costs, which brings the total amount allocated to £62.3 million.
Harrods “apologises unreservedly” for the sexual abuse people suffered and “wants everyone who is eligible to receive this compensation”, according to documents on the scheme’s website.
Eligible individuals can apply for several types of compensation, including general damages of up to £200,000, work impact payments of up to £150,000, aggravated damages of up to £25,000, wrongful testing fixed payments of up to £10,000, and coverage for treatment costs.
An eligible applicant does not need to have been a Harrods’ employee but their claim must contain a “sufficiently close connection” to the London department store or to Mr Al Fayed’s role there.
Those who allege they were assaulted outside the UK can also receive compensation if there is sufficient connection to Harrods.
Harrods recorded a £34.3 million loss in its latest full year accounts, compared with a profit of £111 million the previous year, partially due to the scheme.
In a statement announcing the scheme, Harrods said: "While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future."
