Sports Direct day: Mike Ashley is opening his company’s AGM to the public August 24, 2016 Sports Direct's founder Mike Ashley invited MPs to visit the company's Shirebrook warehouse while they were investigating working conditions at the site – and now he's inviting you too. Yes, that's right, Sports Direct is opening its annual general meeting (AGM) to the public so everyone can have a go at Ashley for paying his workers [...]
JD Sports plans takeover of rival retailer Go Outdoors as Sports Direct flounders August 21, 2016 High street retailer JD Sports Fashion is exploring a takeover of Go Outdoors in a bid to expand its dominance in fitness clothing. According to Sky News, JD Sports is one of several bidders looking to make an offer for Go Outdoors, which is being sold in an auction run by KPMG. JD Sports – which [...]
Sports Direct shareholders advised to oppose re-election of Mike Ashley to the board August 21, 2016 Sports Direct's shareholders have been advised to oppose the re-election of the company's founder Mike Ashley to the board after the retailer become embroiled in a scandal over the treatment of workers. Pensions and Investment Research Consultants (Pirc) said Ashley had been "highly criticised" by the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) select committee for the "appalling working [...]
City Moves for 18 August 2016 | Who’s switching jobs August 18, 2016 Red Deer Red Deer, a new London-based fintech company, has appointed Stefano Vaccino as chief product officer and Henry Price as chief commercial officer. Stefano joins Red Deer from Algomi, where he was chief product officer and a member of the executive team. At Red Deer he will oversee product strategy and manage the entire development prioritisation process. Henry joins Red [...]
Sports Direct agrees to pay back workers £1m August 15, 2016 Workers who were paid less than the national minimum wage at Sports Direct's Shirebrook warehouse will receive a pay back from the company worth an estimated £1m. The retailer was under investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for failing to pay warehouse workers the national minimum wage. Workers were not paid for waiting at security checks before being [...]
Emotional Jessica Ennis-Hill ponders retirement after being beaten to gold in Rio August 14, 2016 London 2012 golden girl Jessica Ennis-Hill has dropped a major hint that her silver medal-winning heptathlon performance at the Rio Olympics will mark the end of her athletics career. Ennis-Hill fell agonisingly short of defending her title on Saturday night as Belgian Nafi Thiam produced five personal bests from seven events to claim gold, aged [...]
Cut Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio some slack: His “tryst” doesn’t make him worse at his job August 11, 2016 Not since Fred the Shred was at his most dastardly has a banking boss made the gossip pages of the tabloids. But this week Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio strolled into the headlines hand in-hand with Russell Group director general Dr Wendy Platt, after The Sun revealed an alleged tryst between the pair The paper’s report [...]
Why the £10bn surfing industry deserves its introduction as an Olympic sport in 2020 August 10, 2016 Once the epitome of sporting counter culture and the natural home to the mavericks and outsiders of the sports world, surfing has finally been accepted as an Olympic sport. With Brazilian pro surfers like Gabriel Medina and Filipe Toledo now superstars in a sport which is rivalling football in its appeal to younger generations, the [...]
Labour leadership contender Owen Smith wants an inquiry into working practices at Asos August 10, 2016 An urgent inquiry into working practices at online retailer Asos is necessary, Labour leadership contender Owen Smith has said. Smith today called for an inquiry to deal with employment practices at Asos, warning it is "the new Sports Direct". Writing to chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee Ian Wright, Smith asked for consideration [...]
Online sales grew in July as store sales fell – despite desperate discount offers from retailers August 9, 2016 Online sales performed well in the past three months, but store sales declined as retailers struggled to lure shoppers onto the high street with discount deals. In the three months to July, the online sales of non-food products grew 11.1 per cent as compared to the same period last year, according to research by the British [...]