Bid to oust chairman
Sports Direct’s underfire chairman has faced fresh calls to quit.
Two big investors announced they would be voting to oust Keith Hellawell at the firm’s AGM next Wednesday.
Hellawell, a former West Yorkshire Police chief constable and government drugs tsar, has pledged to step down if he doesn’t get the support of a majority of independent shareholders.
Royal London Asset Management and Standard Life Aberdeen want him out.
Three shareholder advisory firms have also recommended investors vote against him.
Ashley Hamilton Claxton, from Royal London, said: “Sports Direct continues to show a serious disregard for shareholders’ views about the governance and management of the company.”
It will also oppose chief executive Mike Ashley’s reappointment.
Yet Ashley won’t be at the AGM because of “conflicting demands”. Newcastle United owner Ashley has vowed to overhaul conditions at Sports Direct’s vast Shirebrook warehouse in Derbyshire.
But it came as Unite slammed the use of touchpads with happy and sad faces to gauge worker satisfaction. The union branded them an “emoji con”.
A spokesperson for Sports Direct said: “Our notice of AGM makes it clear that Keith Hellawell has the full support of his fellow directors.”