ARE THESE MEN THE WORLD’S MEANEST BOSSES?
BILLIONAIRE Mike Ashley, owner of Sports Direct, and pub owner Tim Martin have been named online as the world’s worst bosses as they were accused of using the coronavirus lockdown to raise prices and leave their staff high and dry during the unprecedented crisis.
Mr Ashley bowed to pressure in the UK yesterday and closed his outlets, then provoked an outcry by hiking the prices online. And Mr Martin, founder of the Wetherspoons chain of pubs, caused outrage as bosses told 43,000 staff in Britain they will not be paid for over a month while its pubs are shut.
Mr Ashley’s Sport’s Direct, which has 43 outlets in Ireland, had said its shops in the UK would remain open despite the lockdown Boris Johnson announced on Monday.
But since the stores closed, the price of some sports equipment such as skipping ropes and weights – useful for those in self-isolation – went up by more than 50%.
Shortly after announcing stores would close, Sports Direct sent staff a note of which prices should be increased. An Everlast 4kg kettlebell weight has gone up from €10.99 to €16.30 – although the sticker will still say the original ticket price was €20.30. Staff at Sports Direct said they had been forced to attend work yesterday to receive their wages.
On the price rises, a spokesman said: ‘While some goods have seen an increase... this is not the complete picture. Not only were these goods originally discounted, but even now they are under the RRP.’
Bosses at Wetherspoons, which owns seven pubs in Ireland, told the chain’s UK staff they will not be paid for over a month.
Mr Martin, founder of the group which runs over 800 UK pubs, said he was ‘sorry’, wished his staff ‘good luck’ and suggested they work for Tesco instead.
The 64-year-old claimed the company, which turns over €1.96billion a year, ‘does not have the resources’ to pay its staff due to pub closures caused by the outbreak.
Staff will get no money until the end of April when the UK government is expected to pay wage subsidies to businesses that have shut down.
The group’s seven pubs in Ireland closed last week under a voluntary agreement with the Licensed Vintners Association.