The stories around former Harrods owner Mohammed Al Fayed continue to make headlines in the UK and the latest news is that the retailer is investigating whether any current staff members knew of Fayed’s alleged actions or were involved in them.

The bombshell story broke last week on the back of a BBC Panorama investigation into multiple allegations of rape and attempted rape of young, female employees, as well as intimidation of those women to stop them reporting the assaults.

The store has said there’s an ongoing internal probe that includes “looking at whether any current staff were involved in any of the allegations either directly or indirectly” and that it’s in direct communication with the Metropolitan Police.

It has emerged that the review at Harrods, which the company told the BBC “was designed in consultation with independent external counsel and experts in personal injury litigation”, began in 2023.

Harrods has also established a non-executive committee of the board to further consider the issues.

Fayed died in 2023 at the age of 94 and dozens of women have reported assaults during his time in control of the business. Some have also said they alerted managers or HR but no action was taken. There have also been reports alleging women being “cherry-picked” by staff members and put into Fayed’s orbit, as well as intimated into signing non-disclosure agreements.

UK and US law firms are investigating potential legal claims relating to allegations of trafficking, serious sexual assault and exploitation. And they’re also looking at whether any claims could be made against the Metropolitan Police after reports that insufficient action was taken when assaults were reported.

Other law firms are looking at pursuing claims against Harrods on behalf of individual clients. No claims have been filed so far.

Meanwhile, former Harrods CEO James McArthur who ran the business for 10 months in 2008, described his time there as “unpleasant” and called Fayed “abhorrent”.

But while he said he witnessed bad behaviour on his ex-boss’s part, he said he wasn’t aware of any sexual abuse.