Under-fire Sports Direct chairman Keith Hellawell has said he will step down at next year’s annual general meeting if he does not have the support of shareholders. “But I don’t want the headline “excuses”, I want the headline “sorry”.
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In his pockets? A huge wad of red £50 notes – nearly a flawless caricature of a 1980s business tycoon.
Shares in Sports Direct were down 11 percent at 312 pence by 0800 GMT, a 60 percent drop in the price in the previous year.
Mr Turner had enraged the Newcastle United owner after suggesting that Mr Ashley should be offering more guaranteed hours to staff.
In a bid to prove to assembled reporters that he was all too aware of Sports Direct employees’ daily ordeals, billionaire founder Mike Ashley demonstrated a routine search procedure at the company’s Shirebrook warehouse.
MPs heard claims that Sports Direct made workers wait, unpaid, for a security check at the end of their shift, which brought their earnings below the then-minimum rate of £6.70 an hour.
On Tuesday the troubled sportswear retailer had published the results of a review that identified “serious shortcomings” in practices at its warehouse in Shirebrook, central England, where it employs thousands of agency workers.
The investment giant confirmed it has voted against the company’s executive pay report and against the reappointment of all non-executive directors, in addition to calling for a full and independent review of corporate governance.
A subsequent parliamentary report into the company made further allegations, citing a number of horrific case studies in which workers had been treated as “commodities” rather than human beings.
However, Dr Hellawell said he will step down at next year’s annual general meeting if he doesn’t have shareholders’ support.
Earlier on Wednesday Standard Life, Sports Direct’s second-biggest shareholder, said a “substantial strengthening of the non-executive members of the board will be required, particularly in the crucial role of Chairman [Keith Hellawell]”.
Institute of Directors head of corporate governance Oliver Parry said: “From what we have seen in the past two years, the corporate governance standards have fallen way below what we would expect from a listed company”. Several investors, including Legal & General, have said they will oppose his re-election. He told the press: “I have to believe that I’m the right man for the job”.
Sports Direct said he had been asked by the board to continue in the role.
It said the forecast was, however, subject to group sales growth of at least 9%, a group gross margin decline of no worse than 275 basis points and an increase in operating costs of no worse than 8%. The group, which had previously not given a profit forecast, made comparable earnings of 381.4 million pounds in the year ended April 24, 2016.
Shares in the company also collapsed over 10% on Wednesday morning after a profit warning and news that Ashley had refused the resignation of Hellawell over the weekend.
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But Mr Wright said he still wanted to see a fully independent review of the firm’s practices.
