Landlord row forces House of Fraser to close another store February 6, 2020 Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley has been forced to close another House of Fraser store after being served notice by the landlord. The branch in Dundrum, near Dublin, will close within the next three months after the property’s landlord agreed a deal with Brown Thomas and Primark. Ashley warned in December that it was likely [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct bags stake in designer brand Mulberry February 3, 2020 Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has snapped up a stake in British luxury handbag company Mulberry, as the billionaire businessman seeks to rebrand his company as a premium retailer. Sports Direct, which has recently been rebranded as Frasers Group, has taken a 12.5 per cent stake in the designer brand. The deal signals a further [...]
Audit resignations jump as sector faces regulatory pressure February 3, 2020 The number of audit firms to resign from jobs jumped last year as the sector comes under increasing regulatory pressure. Resignations have risen 21 per cent to 229 in 2018/19, up from 190 the previous year, according to the latest research by Thomson Reuters. The spike in resignations comes as audit companies are increasingly in [...]
Exclusive: Politicians slam House of Fraser for continuing to sell Presidents Club clothing line January 30, 2020 Politicians, businesswomen and equality campaigners have called on House of Fraser to stop selling a clothing line appearing to reference the Presidents Club dinner where businessmen allegedly groped hostesses. The Presidents Club annual dinner was plunged into scandal in 2018 after details emerged of attendees’ behaviour and revealing dresses hostesses were told to wear. The [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct resolves chunk of €674m Belgian tax bill January 30, 2020 Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct has resolved a large chunk of a €674m (£570.2m) tax dispute with the Belgian authorities. The retailer – which recently rebranded as Frasers Group – said €491m of the disputed VAT had been accounted for and authorities in Belgium had withdrawn the claim. Ashley’s company said it would “continue to fully engage [...]
Mike Ashley in talks to sell Newcastle United for £340m January 26, 2020 Retail tycoon Mike Ashley is in talks to sell Newcastle United football club to a consortium including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund for £340m. The billionaire owner of Sports Direct – recently renamed Frasers Group – bought Newcastle United in 2007 but is now in talks with a group led by British financier Amanda Staveley [...]
Not as easy as 1,2,3: Seven accounting errors that rocked FTSE firms January 22, 2020 Ted Baker today experienced the dubious honour of joining a list of FTSE firms that have been shaken by accounting errors in the past year. The fashion retailer revealed an accounting error was more than twice as bad as it previously thought, knocking shares down seven per cent. But it is by no means the [...]
‘Intruder’ Fifa is a threat to European club football, says Spanish league boss Javier Tebas January 20, 2020 Javier Tebas, the man who accused Paris Saint-Germain of “peeing in the pool” and flouting football’s financial rules, is know for shooting from the hip and now it is Fifa in the outspoken Spanish league chief’s crosshairs. Specifically, LaLiga president Tebas is disturbed by his Fifa counterpart Gianni Infantino’s apparent determination to transform the Club [...]
Don’t run for the hills over alignment – the big question is where and when to diverge January 19, 2020 As we approach the 50-day point in Boris Johnson’s premiership, questions are still being asked about what kind of leader he will be, and how different the country will become under him. Londoners in particular are used to certain amount of showmanship in the Johnson approach to politics. As mayor, he was a high profile [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group to close six Jack Wills stores January 16, 2020 High street fashion brand Jack Wills has announced it will shut six stores, blaming “unhelpful” landlords for the closures. Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, which bought the fashion retailer out of administration for £12.8m last year, today said shops in Bournemouth, Camberley, Cheltenham, Soho, Turo and Witney will close within the next month. Ashley’s retail empire, [...]