Newcastle fans boycott Tottenham Hotspur game in protest over Mike Ashley ownership April 20, 2015 A group of Newcastle fans boycotted yesterday’s home match against Tottenham Hotspur in protest against current owner Mike Ashley, calling on him to leave. The plans were announced last week as strong negative sentiment towards the club’s ownership was compounded when it was revealed that United had more then £34.1m in cash reserves. Fans are [...]
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 [...]
Derek Llambias, Sandy Easdale and Barry Leach suspended from Rangers as new board launches investigation March 10, 2015 Rangers Football Club has suspended former executives Derek Llambias, Sandy Easdale and Barry Leach pending an investigation. The trio – who were respectively chief executive, chairman and finance director until they were ousted by 85 per cent of shareholders on Friday – have been told to stay away from the club. Dave King [...]
Rangers seeks second tranche of Sports Direct loan – but warns it might not be approved March 4, 2015 Rangers is applying to draw down the second tranche of the Sports Direct loan to keep its head above water – but has warned that it might not receive the cash. The struggling football club was lent £10m by Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley at the start of the year for its urgent capital needs. [...]
Mike Ashley sidesteps MP grilling over USC redundancies March 4, 2015 Mike Ashley is sidestepping a meeting with Scottish MPs who want to grill him over the handling of USC's administration and his retail empire's use of zero-hour contracts. The Scottish Affairs Committee has called Ashley and other executives to appear before them as part of an investigation into how the high street chain collapsed, and [...]
Mike Ashley hit with £7,500 fine for dual interest March 3, 2015 Mike Ashley was facing a less-than-hefty-fine of £7,500 from the Scottish Football Association for holding a dual interest in Glasgow Rangers. Ashley, who is reportedly worth £3.3bn, was found guilty of influencing management at Rangers after the appointments of chief Derek Llambias and finance director Barry Leach, both of whom are long-term acquaintances of Ashley. [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct on target but sales growth slows February 19, 2015 The figures Shares in Sports Direct rose two per cent in early trading as it announced sales and gross profits had risen across the Christmas period – up 2.6 per cent to £771m and 7.6 per cent to £346.9m respectively. However, that was a slowdown compared to the same period last year, when sales grew 11 [...]
Sports Direct shares drop as M&A boss departs February 17, 2015 Sports Direct's share price was down more than four per cent this morning after it emerged that its mergers and acquisitions boss Jeff Blue is leaving the company. Blue, a former Merril Lynch banker, was hired two years ago to spearhead takeover deals for Mike Ashley's high street behemoth. He was also standing in [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct faces legal challenge over claims sacked USC staff were given 15 minute warning February 9, 2015 Former USC staff who were made redundant when the fast fashion business was put into administration are taking legal action, claiming they received just 15 minutes' consultation over the job losses. The chain, which is owned by Mike Ashley's Sports Direct, was put into administration last month and bought out just a few days later [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct faces million-pound claim over bonus scheme which excluded zero-hour contracted staff February 3, 2015 Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct faces legal claims over its bonus scheme from hundreds of staff working at its stores which could run into millions of pounds. Nearly 300 workers on zero-hours contracts were excluded from a bonus scheme which gave around 2,000 staff who were permanently employed a windfall share of £160m worth of shares [...]