Mike Ashley’s Mash Holdings doubles profits after “gift” transfer of Sports Direct shares to Mash Beta April 14, 2015 Mike Ashley doubled his profits last year through his holding company through which he holds his stakes in Newcastle United and Sports Direct. Mash Holdings' profit before tax soared 111 per cent to £542.7m for the year to April 30 2014, up from £256.4m in 2012/2013. It included the profit raised from Ashley's move [...]
Apple Watch sales figures: How many many were sold on the first weekend on pre-order? Here’s the first analyst estimates April 13, 2015 The first estimates of the Apple Watch sales are in – and they're not looking too shabby (despite reviews that can be summarised as "meh"). After opening for pre-order sales on Friday, one research firm has already pegged sales at almost one million. 957,000 if you want to be precise. Of course, Apple are keeping [...]
Rangers: Four things you need to know from the club’s financial results April 1, 2015 British football's most turbulent club Rangers released their financial results yesterday, and predictably there were new revelations to discuss and more facts to depress fans. The future is looking slightly more rosy with a more popular board at the helm, but there remains an awful lot of fixing up to do if Rangers are going [...]
European glory worth €100m to English clubs March 31, 2015 WINNING the Champions League could be worth more than €100m (£72.3m) to an English club next season in prize money alone after governing body Uefa announced an increase in merit payments for 2015-18. This year’s Premier League winners could scoop a maximum of around €113m (£82m) if they go on to lift European club football’s [...]
Rangers and Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley has too much power, says IoD March 30, 2015 A respected business group has branded the Sports Direct board "dysfunctional" and warned there aren't sufficient checks on the powers of founder and majority owner Mike Ashley. The criticism, from the Institute of Directors, comes after Sports Direct chairman Keith Hellawell endured a tough grilling by MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee last week, during [...]
Theatre review: Rules for Living March 27, 2015 National Theatre | ★★★★☆ So this is it: the final curtain for Sir Nicholas Hytner, the revitalising creative director of the National Theatre. That he would bow out with Rules for Living, a new play from young writer Sam Holcroft and directed by stalwart Marianne Elliot, exemplifies the combination of steady-handedness and risk he has [...]
Chelsea kick Heron Tower police raid firm into touch March 25, 2015 CHELSEA Football Club has ripped up its partnership agreement with a firm that was raided by the police’s fraud squad earlier this month, City A.M. understands. CWM FX became the Premier League club’s official online forex trading partner at the start of the year, as part of a sequence of glamorous marketing deals directed at [...]
MPs grill Sports Direct chairman over collapse of retail chain USC March 25, 2015 MPS ACCUSED Sport Direct of running “a backstreet outfit” yesterday after chairman Keith Hellawell admitted the retailer had withheld a payment from Diesel to force it to keep supplying USC. The Scottish affairs committee, led by chairman Ian Davidson, grilled Hellawell for two hours over the collapse of the retail chain after it was put [...]
Academies to benefit from clubs’ profits March 25, 2015 Teams tipped to invest in new stadia League more attractive to investors PERHAPS it is pertinent that the Premier League’s emphatic return to profitability after 15 years is confirmed on the day that its club chiefs meet to discuss decisions that could shape the next decade or more. Today in London Football Association chairman Greg [...]
Rangers end Mike Ashley loan agreement but take £1.5m from Three Bears consortium March 23, 2015 Cash-strapped Rangers will receive a boost after Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor agreed to provide £1.5m loans to the football club. The loans from the group known as the "Three Bears consortium" are being made available until 31 December 2015 for working capital requirements and will be provided on an unsecured basis, meaning [...]