The 51-year-old, who also owns Newcastle United soccer club, said these were now being addressed and that Sports Direct Chief Executive Dave Forsey would not be taking his four-year share bonus, worth up to 4 million pounds ($5.8 million).
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MPs are investigating working practices at Sports Direct’s Shirebrook warehouse, including poor working conditions, security staff searching employees, the use of controversial zero-hours contracts and paying less than the minimum wage.
Ashley appeared before the Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee after completing two u-turns over whether he would appear in recent days.
In a letter, Ashley said he had only refused to attend “to avoid a media circus” adding that he would not attend because his lawyer Richard Gordon QC, was unavailable.
Despite admitting that some of his workers had been paid less than the minimum wage, Mr Ashley defended his nature.
In his long and sometime contradictory evidence, Ashley said Sports Direct could do a better job than the Unite union on the question of employee welfare.
In a letter to the Labour MP, Mr Ashley said: “I am mindful of your statement to the press on Friday in which you question whether or not Sports Direct has anything to hide”.
He then suggested that MPs should visit the Shirebook warehouse first, to see conditions for themselves.
He said: ‘It 100% should not be going on.
Mr Wright said the committee was looking at the wider picture of modern working conditions across Britain.
He also says that some things he has discovered during a review into the company’s working practices have come as “a bit of an unpleasant surprise” and that the review will never be completed, as it is an “ongoing process”.
“It’s a logical fit with Sports Direct because of the extreme value that Sports Direct is known for”, Ashley said.
Unite alleged that warehouse workers for Sports Direct, employed via agencies The Best Connection and Transline, are effectively “taxed” if they do not have a bank account for their wages to be paid into.
The allegations of workers in a warehouse being criticised over a Tannoy system were brought up during the committee meeting.
Ashley, who was facing a parliamentary summons, has since decided a “lengthy legal battle would be of no benefit to either of us”.
If he did not appear, he would risk being found in contempt of Parliament. He added late in the hearing that he would be open to an independent probe into issues raised, but said he wanted to lead the probe himself to begin with. “I’m not a saint, but you could have made a success of that business”.
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Ashley also confirmed that the sports company is under investigation by HMRC and is in talks about a deal to compensate its warehouse employees.
