“I do travel to work by helicopter” – Mike Ashley tries to seem humble on TV and fails September 20, 2016 Sports Direct's founder Mike Ashley has said this morning that he travels to work by helicopter "because it's more efficient". Ashley went on BBC breakfast this morning following an announcement that the company will be conducting an independent review of working practices and corporate governance, and answered questions about the moment he pulled out a wad [...]
Sports Direct announces independent company will replace RPC to review working practices and corporate governance September 20, 2016 Sports Direct announced this morning that it would appoint a new independent party to conduct a review of its working practices and corporate governance – replacing RPC. Shares in the company were up 3.3 per cent mid-morning. [stockChart code="SPD" date="2016-09-20 11:15"] The embattled retailer said in a report released at the beginning of September [...]
Bradley Wiggins stands by “no needles” comments and says he had “no direct link” to disragaced ex-Team Sky doctor Geert Leinders September 17, 2016 Bradley Wiggins has distanced himself from disgraced former Team Sky doctor Geert Leinders and stood by comments regarding his use of needle injections, after a leak of his medical records prompted questions of the five time Olympic champion. Details made public by Russian hackers reveal the British cycling star applied for therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and [...]
MPs to launch new investigation into excessive boardroom pay September 15, 2016 MPs will launch a wide-ranging review into executive pay tomorrow after prime minister Theresa May promised to get tough on the country's top paid bosses. The Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee will unveil the terms of a corporate governance inquiry tomorrow, which will look at the issue of what to do about runaway executive pay [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct needs a solid gameplan to rise from the ashes September 14, 2016 Sports Direct is back in the news, this time for what should be more positive reasons than their other recent appearances. We have covered how consumer perception of the brand has fallen over the past year as investigations uncovered damaging practices within the organisation. This culminated in owner Mike Ashley’s appearance in front of a select [...]
Full separation of BT’s infrastructure arm Openreach is not “off the table” – Bradley September 13, 2016 BT has been dealt a blow just months after the telecoms group escaped its infrastructure arm Openreach being hived off by the regulator. Karen Bradley – the culture, media, and sport secretary – warned BT that Openreach could still be split out to a separate company despite Ofcom’s proposals to leave it under the BT [...]
BIS committee chair urges Mike Ashley to leave employment agency Transline Group behind September 13, 2016 Iain Wright, the chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) select committee is pushing Sports Direct's founder Mike Ashley to ditch Transline Group, the agency that supplies workers for his Shirebrook warehouse. The BIS committee said in a report on the working practices at Shirebrook that Transline Group had been misleading in evidence given during [...]
JD Sports warns Brexit may cause “headwinds on margin” next year September 13, 2016 JD Sports' share price has hit a record high after the company reported a jump in profits today — but the retailer has warned that the fall in sterling could cause some headwinds next year. The figures Pre-tax profits for the sports fashion retailer grew by 66 per cent for the 26 weeks to 20 July, reaching £77.4m as [...]
The Investor Forum doesn’t want any more “quick fixes” from Sports Direct September 9, 2016 Influential shareholder group the Investor Forum has said today that Sports Direct "can't have any more quick fixes" in its bid to reform its corporate governance. Phineas Glover, senior adviser at the Investor Forum, said a meeting with Sports Direct's founder Mike Ashley on Wednesday – after the company's AGM – was the "frankest exchange of views [...]
Nearly three per cent of UK workers have reported they are now on a zero-hours contract September 8, 2016 Almost three per cent of the UK's workforce has reported being employed on a zero-hours contract basis in their main job, according to new figures. Data released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the number of people on zero-hours contracts, which do not guarantee staff a certain number of hours' work, rose by [...]