The Guardian (including associated Sports Direct chat)

[MacK1950 2,376]

It's still the fatman's sweatshop so he has a responsibility.

[forlanssister 3,114]

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/18/sports-direct-mike-ashley-to-oversee-review-of-agency-workers-conditions

 

 

Sports Direct: Mike Ashley to oversee review of agency staff's conditions

 

Founder of sportswear chain will personally lead initiative after Guardian investigation revealed some staff are effectively paid less than minimum wage

 

Sports Direct is to launch a review of all agency staff terms and conditions, which it said would be overseen personally by its founder Mike Ashley.

 

The move follows a Guardian investigation, which revealed how temporary warehouse workers at Britain’s biggest sportswear chain are subjected to an extraordinary regime of searches and surveillance. Undercover reporters also came up with evidence that thousands of workers were receiving effective hourly rates of pay below the minimum wage.

 

The company said on Friday: “Sports Direct always seeks to improve and do things better, listens to criticism and acts where appropriate. With that in mind, as noted above, the board has agreed that Mike Ashley shall personally oversee a review of all agency worker terms and conditions to ensure the company does not just meet its legal obligations, but also provides a good environment for the entire workforce. We expect him to start that work in the New Year.”

 

Labour’s former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said: “This Sports Direct review is overdue but has the whiff of a pupil marking its own homework. Sports Direct should get an independent third party to do their review into workers rights - the company has a lot to learn.”

 

At the same time, Sports Direct mounted a robust defence of its employment practices, issuing a long list of rebuttals.

 

It said the warehouse tannoy is not used to ‘harangue’ or ‘name and shame’ staff, but is used for logistical reasons, for example, to redeploy staff to other areas of the building.

 

It said it does not penalise staff for being ill. “Sanctions may be applied if workers fail to follow the company’s reasonable sickness absence notification procedures, which are in line with industry best practice. The company is not aware of any occasions on which sick children have not been able to be collected from school by their parents. Sports Direct allows staff time off to look after dependants in such circumstances.”

 

Local primary school headteachers had told the Guardian that workers at Sports Direct’s Shirebrook warehouse in Derbyshire are sending their children to school while sick because they are too afraid to take time off work.

 

The company defended the security measures at its warehouse in Shirebrook in light of the risk of theft. Sports Direct said banning staff from wearing the brands stocked in the warehouse was “not an unusual practice,” adding: “There are of course numerous other brands that staff can easily wear.

 

The Guardian revealed that staff are banned from wearing 802 clothing brands at work, and that they have to go through rigorous searches, and are not paid for their time while being searched.

 

The company said all employees, agency workers and visitors, including executive management and board members, are subject to “random searches”.

 

Sports Direct also defended its use of zero hour contracts for casual staff in its shops, saying it is not alone in using them. It added that a “significant number” of casual workers had moved from zero hour terms into permanent contracts “when the circumstances allow”. Many have developed successful careers within the company, including the chief executive, it said.

 

It also said that virtually all casual retail staff are eligible for bonus payments and that more than 80% achieved a performance-related bonus in November.

 

The retailer came under fire from MPs during an urgent parliamentary debate on Monday and a government minister, Nick Boles, said the company would face sanctions if it flouted wage laws. HM Revenue & Customs is facing increasing pressure to launch an inquiry into the sportswear retailer.

 

 

 

[craig 5,199]

I don't think SD actually pays agency workers. SD pays the agency who then pay their workers. That shifts the responsibility on to the agency.

At least I think that's the way it works

 

Responsibility for working conditions will still be with those who provide the conditions themselves i.e. the sweatshops.

[buster. 5,185]

Mr.MASH, his empty words and the internal 'as good as t1ts on a fish' inquiry not enough to avoid...........

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Sports Direct's Mike Ashley to face MPs over working conditions

 

Announcement comes after retailer promises internal inquiry overseen by CEO following Guardian investigation

 

 

 

Mike Ashley, the billionaire founder of Sports Direct, is to face questions in parliament next year over the working conditions at the company, following revelations made in the Guardian last week.

 

The news that Ashley is to be called in front of the business, innovation and skills select committee came as the retailer attempted to counter the resulting negative publicity by announcing an internal inquiry. The Guardian investigation revealed how temporary warehouse workers at Britain’s largest sportswear chain were subjected to an extraordinary regime of searches and surveillance.

 

Full article at

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/18/sports-direct-mike-ashley-parliament-questions-working-conditions

Edited December 18, 2015 by buster.

[govan_derriere 3]

On the BBC's news at Six, Iain Wright, the Labour MP and chair of the BIS select committee stated

 

"We will invite Mr Ashley in the New Year to give evidence."

 

 

I almost have to declare a vested interest here!

Emma Simpson the presenter of this piece is a former pupil of mine who stayed in Newmachar In Aberdeenshire at the time and attended Dyce Academy.

[forlanssister 3,114]

The killing of JJB was an extremely cute affair, Ashley's sidekick parachuted in and the money borrowed from an Icelandic Bank.

 

Ashley's biggest competitor removed at no cost to himself.

 

Ex-JJB chief ordered to pay £633,000 over fraud

 

A former business partner of the Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley faced further humiliation yesterday when he was ordered to pay £633,000 for his role in one of the retail industry’s most notorious frauds.

 

Chris Ronnie, the former chief executive of JJB Sports, was sentenced to four years in prison in December 2014 for taking up to £1 million in bribes.

 

Southwark crown court said yesterday that he should pay the money within three months or face another five years in jail. He is due to be released next December.

 

Ronnie was one of a group of business people who aimed to make a fortune from the growth in the market for cheap leisurewear. Mr Ashley, a friend and mentor, has been the most successful, amassing a £4 billion fortune from an empire that bestrides retail and includes football interests such as Newcastle United.

 

Ronnie worked under Ashley at Sports Direct for three years from 2002.

 

He was dubbed a “lifestyle criminal” by the Serious Fraud Office after being convicted of three counts of fraud while at JJB, parts of which were later sold to Sports Direct.

 

He was found guilty of taking cash payments from suppliers and of providing false information.

 

Ronnie used the cash to fund a lavish lifestyle and an expensive property portfolio, including a holiday home in Florida that has since been sold.

 

A schedule of assets from which Ronnie will need to secure payment under the confiscation order include a home in Cheshire, half a house in Marbella, Spain, a Range Rover with a registration plate of 258CR, and a Rolex watch worth £5,000.

 

At the time of his conviction, the judge said Ronnie was “very greedy” and had shown no “sign of remorse or even embarrassment about what you have done”.

 

Ronnie watched proceedings yesterday via videolink from prison. The judge, Nicholas Loraine-Smith, said that he was “almost unrecognisable” from the time of his conviction, having lost a lot of weight in prison.

 

Mark Thompson, of the SFO, said: “We are committed to ensuring that fraudsters do not retain the benefit of their crimes. We will take steps to make sure the order is satisfied within the period set by the court.”

 

Ronnie ran JJB between August 2007 and March 2009, during which time its share price collapsed from more than 200p to less than 3p.

 

Sports Direct is under pressure after an investigation by The Guardian alleged that staff worked in “gulag” conditions, sometimes earning less than the minimum wage.

 

Asked if Mr Ashley remained a friend of Ronnie or had visited him in prison, his spokesman declined to comment.

 

Ronnie, the son of a Daily Express journalist, became the managing director of Diadora in 1995, later working for Sir Tom Hunter and Umbro.

 

On becoming chief executive of JJB, he described himself as “one of the luckiest fellows alive”.

 

JJB was founded by Dave Whelan, the former footballer and Wigan Athletic owner, and became one of the most recognisable names on the high street.

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/crime/article4644069.ece

 

 

[forlanssister 3,114]

On the BBC's news at Six, Iain Wright, the Labour MP and chair of the BIS select committee stated

 

"We will invite Mr Ashley in the New Year to give evidence."

 

 

I almost have to declare a vested interest here!

Emma Simpson the presenter of this piece is a former pupil of mine who stayed in Newmachar In Aberdeenshire at the time and attended Dyce Academy.

 

An invitation is a waste of time a summons would be more in order.

[govan_derriere 3]

Article in Guardian goes on to say

 

"However, sources close to the BIS committee said he could be officially summoned this time, as his appearance was being viewed as “a test of parliament’s authority”.

[buster. 5,185]

When 'The Guardian' gets a hold of a story and it sees sufficient value and public interest it can become determined and relentless in it's pursuit of the relevant details.

 

For example

They've put together a fairly comprehensive database called 'The Counted' about people killed by The Police in the USA in 2015. One that has forced the F.B.I. to overhaul it's own less than comprehensive data collection on the killings.

 

The Counted

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database

 

Another page includes articles that are connected

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/counted-us-police-killings

 

--------------------------------------------------

 

What I'm seeing on this thread is a collection of recent articles about Mr.MASH and SDI.

Also a more historic article about the JJB takeover.

 

You see where I'm going with this.........Could we look at trying to collate as much historic information on Mr.MASH/SDI as we can legally find both before and after his involement with Rangers and somehow organise it.

 

We could simply keep this thread open and after a couple of weeks we will see how varied and how much information there is and go from there.

 

So basically keep the info coming and I'll have a further think about it.

Edited December 18, 2015 by buster.

[buster. 5,185]

SDI must have quite an extensive and busy legal department.

---------------------------------------------

 

17/12/2015

 

Article from The Irish Times

 

Dispute over Heatons shareholders’ sale to Sports Direct adjourned

 

Plaintiffs say Sports Direct is refusing to comply with agreement on tax issue

 

 

A legal action by Irish shareholders in the Heatons retail stores arising out of an agreement to sell the shareholding to UK Sports Direct International Plc has been adjourned to next year.

 

In High Court proceedings, Katipo Ltd, Mark Heaton, Hugh Heaton, and John O’Neill claim Sports Direct International Plc (SDI) is refusing to comply with parts of an agreement concerning sale of shares in a company, Warrnambol, to SDI.

 

Warrnambol operates a chain of retail stores in Ireland trading under the Heatons and Sports World brand.

 

The Irish shareholders had owned 50 per cent of the shares in Warrnambool, with the remaining shareholding owned by SDI. It is claimed SDI had last October entered into an agreement to acquire the Irish group outright for €48 million.

 

The plaintiffs claim it was agreed, as part of the sale with SDI, they would receive a certificate from Warrnambol’s auditors to the effect that Section 980 of the 1997 Taxes Consolidation Act did not apply. That has not been done, it is alleged.

Katipo Ltd owns the shares which are subject of the sale while Mark and Hugh Heaton, and Mr O’Neill, are shareholders.

 

Mike Ashley

SDI is owned by UK businessman and billionaire Mike Ashley, who also owns English premier league football club Newcastle United FC plus a minority share in Scottish championship side, Glasgow Rangers FC.

 

As part of their action, the shareholders want orders including an injunction compelling SDI to pay the full price as defined in an agreement in respect of shares without making any deduction for Capital Gains Tax.

 

The injunction application is opposed by SDI and was due to be heard at the High Court on Thursday by Mr Justice David Keane.

Following discussions between the parties, Michael Cush SC, for the plaintiffs, said the parties had come to an agreement over how the matter should proceed.

 

Paul Gallagher SC, for SDI, said the injunction application would take two days to hear, whereas the full hearing of the matter would be concluded in three days.

 

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan agreed to fix a date for the hearing of the full action in early March.

 

 

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/dispute-over-heatons-shareholders-sale-to-sports-direct-adjourned-1.2470109