How Ashley upset the Church
‘VICTORIAN’ CONDITIONS AT SPORTS DIRECT ARE LAMBASTED
MIKE Ashley’s Sports Direct was slammed by the Church of England for the way the firm treats its staff, it has been revealed.
The Church’s Commissioners – the people who manage its £7.9bn investment fund – sent a series of letters to the Newcastle United owner’s sportswear giant, which criticised Sports Direct for working conditions, the Press Association reports.
The letters were sent at a time when Sports Direct was dealing with controversies over senior board members and what unions described as “Victorian” conditions at its factory in Derbyshire, including paying warehouse workers below the minimum wage in 2016. The Church’s investment arm has a minority stake in Sports Direct, and made its disapproval clear at the firm’s AGM, where it voted against re-electing Sports Direct chairman Keith Hellawell and chief executive Mr Ashley in 2017. Church Commissioners also voted against a proposed £11m back payment to Mr Ashley’s brother, IT director John Ashley, which was controversial among investors. The group also backed the Unite union’s calls for an independent review into working practices at Sports Direct.
The Church of England declined to comment.
The Press Association reports that the Church still holds a stake in Sports Direct, and continues to raise its concerns where relevant.
The revelations come at a difficult time for Mr Ashley, whose retail empire saw profits plunge 67.3% to £45.8m in the first half of the year.
The Church Investors Group has also warned recently that it will toughen its stance regarding the lack of women on company boards. Sports Direct has an all-male board.
A spokesman for Sports Direct said: “The board received backing from a majority of independent shareholders at the AGM in September 2017, at which many of these historic issues were addressed.
“We note that under its 2018 voting policy the Church will not back members of nomination committees where less than 25% of the board are women.
“We recognise the value and need for female representation on the board, and we are taking steps to address this. We recently disclosed to the Hampton-Alexander review that women make up 35.1% of our senior executive team, which is ahead of target and compares with the Church of England, where we understand that around 10% of bishops are female.”