The ruling against Chandler and Henningson, directors of Retail Acquisitions which bought BHS for £1 from Philip Green in 2015, came eight years after BHS collapsed into administration.
The two directors need to pay £6.5m each for wrongful trading and at least £5.6m between them for misfeasance claims, the High Court has found.
Judge Mr Justice Leech said Henningson and Chandler had breached their duties as directors, and had they complied with them, the business “would not have continued to trade but would have gone into insolvent administration immediately”.
Dominic Chappell, founder of Retail Acquisitions who led the £1 purchase, will be considered at a separate hearing this month and could be fined for an even larger sum. In 2020, Chappell was ordered to pay £9.5m into the BHS pension schemes.
The three directors could face additional fines of up to £133.5m for misfeasance trading.
BHS liquidator FRP Advisory brought the case against the directors on behalf of creditors.
