Sports Direct said it has cooperated fully with HMRC in order to agree back-payments to directly employed warehouse staff that were not being paid the minimum wage.
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But he gained 81% of the overall vote, thanks to the support of Ashley, who owns 55% of the company.
Standard Life is also calling for this.
One of Europe’s largest fund managers has demanded change at Sports Direct (LON:SPD) and called Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer’s turnaround proposals inadequate.
Critics said that thousands would still start each week unsure how many hours they would work or how much they would earn.
He said the firm was trying to trace affected workers, some of who had “moved on”.
It has emerged that Sports Direct turned down an offer by its chairman to quit amid a critical report on working practices at the company.
Bosses also revealed underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization should come in at around £300m for the 2017 financial year.
Meanwhile, RLAM, which holds 0.18% of Sports Direct shares, said it has voted against all non-executive directors and the remuneration committee. “It is our opinion that even then, substantial strengthening of the non-executive members of the board will be required, particularly in the crucial role of Chairman”.
But the shares fell 32.8p to 316.8p, giving up the gains won yesterday after the company pledged to improve standards by scrapping zero-hour contracts for some staff and the controversial “six strikes” policy, which punished staff for trivial infringements like taking too long to visit the lavatory.
According to a report released today, Sports Direct will offer staff a contract guaranteeing them at least 12 hours work a week.
The Investor Forum, which represents £14.5trn worth of assets, has also taken the unprecedented step of going public with its concerns about the company.
Hours before its AGM, Sports Direct said Keith Hellawell – perhaps best-known as a former government drugs’ tsar and chief constable of West Yorkshire – had received the backing of the board to put things right.
She said Mr Hellawell had “not shown sufficient leadership” and making “minor changes” to its employment practices was not enough.
Legal firm RPC identified “serious shortcomings” in the firm’s working practices which its board “deeply regrets and apologises for”.
Under-pressure retailer Sports Direct turned down an offer by its chairman to step down on the eve of today’s (7 August) showdown with investors.
The Institute of Directors (IoD) has also called for an overhaul of the way the firm is run.
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Almost 21% of all shareholders voted to support a union-backed resolution calling for an independent review of working practices at Sports Direct – a highly unusual level of support for shareholder resolution.
