Investors vote against the re-election of chairman Keith Hellawell to the board of Sports Direct
Sports Direct's investors have said today they want to see the company's chairman kicked off the board.
The vote comes after the business said they would be keeping Keith Hellawell as chairman, despite saying they would listen more to investors. He offered his resignation, but the board would not accept it.
On the vote, non-executive director Claire Jenkins said: "Keith's position of being proud to serve and wanting ot have the opportunity and support the company…I certainty share that feeling."
Over 52 per cent of the investors voted against Hellawell's re-appointment, but the business is keeping him on for another year.
Simon Bentley, senior non-executive director, said that even if "there is a sizable proportion of investors that vote in a certain way…nevertheless a sizeable number of investors have taken a different view", and therefore he could not ignore the investors who want to keep Hellawell.
The result comes after several investors and investor advice groups have expressed their worries about Hellawell's position on the board.
Sacha Sadan, director of corporate governance at Legal & General Investment Management said: "Following Sports Direct’s recent report on its own shortcomings, as well as the large independent shareholder vote against the chairman’s re-election, it is clear the board needs to enact significant change in order to earn back shareholder trust.
"At absolute minimum, we believe the current chairman should step down immediately and an external, independent appointment made to oversee management and protect the interests of all stakeholders – including employees, suppliers, and shareholders."