Ex-Harrods director will not take job as Fenwick boss

Nigel Blow, a long-serving former Harrods manager, has decided not to become boss of the Fenwick department store, despite being set to take up the role as early as this month, the BBC has learned.

Mr Blow worked at Harrods for 14 years from 1992 to 2007, a period when the London luxury store was owned by Mohamed Al Fayed.

This comes after the BBC aired a documentary last month based on the accounts of more than 20 women who said they were sexually assaulted or raped by Al Fayed while working at Harrods.

Following the allegations against Al Fayed, Mr. Blow declined to respond to multiple requests for comment. However, a day after contacting Fenwick, the BBC was told he would not be taking up the post.

The BBC first attempted to contact Mr Blow on September 21 – and received no response to several subsequent queries.

On September 30, Fenwick was contacted and asked if he could comment on the documentary and Mr Blow's long-standing links with Harrods.

Some 24 hours later, Fenwick told the BBC: “In July 2024 we announced that we would be appointing Nigel Blow as CEO of Fenwick. Nigel Blow has informed us that he will no longer be taking on this position.”

No reason was given for the decision.

Best known for its 140-year-old store in Newcastle, Fenwick has eight stores across the UK. The Bond Street branch in London closed earlier this year.

Mr. Blow has been managing director of the private department store chain Morleys since 2019.

The BBC was told “no comment” when it called Morleys on Tuesday to ask whether Mr Blow would retain his role at the firm. He is still listed as CEO of Morleys on the social networking site LinkedIn.

He joined Harrods in 1992 as a goods checker and rose to become the store's head merchant in 2003, with a seat on the board.

There was Media reports about Al Fayed's alleged abuse of women during this time – a 1995 Vanity Fair profile alleging sexual misconduct against employees, then a 1997 documentary and a 1998 book alleging sexual assault become.

Al Fayed died last year at the age of 94.

Mr Blow left Harrods in 2007 to join Irish retailer Brown Thomas.

In 2013, he took a job at another Fayed company – this time as managing director of Turnbull and Asser, the shirt manufacturer with royal approval from Prince Charles.

It is owned by the Fayed family and managed by Ali Fayed, Mohamed's brother, where he remained until 2017.

The BBC has contacted as many former Harrods directors as possible to ask them what they knew about Al Fayed's behavior and to seek their reaction to the BBC's investigation.

Another former Harrods manager, Andre Maeder, was recently announced as the new CEO of department store Selfridges.

He told the BBC He was “horrified” when he saw the documentary about Al Fayed, but added that he “never saw or heard anything about his 'despicable' behavior.”