THE DAILY BRIEFING

SPORTS BRANDS Mike Ashley is continuing on his mission to make Sports Direct the ‘Selfridges of sports retail’ by selling off its tired brands, according to reports. Everlast, Lonsdale and Kangol could be next on the chopping block after billionaire tycoon Ashley sold Dunlop for £112m to the Japanese last month.

BUMPER DIVIDEND Apprentice boss Alan Sugar cashed in last year and paid himself a £181m dividend. The figure was revealed in accounts filed by his property empire Amshold Group, paying £58m tax on the bumper pay out. Sugar is the sole owner of Amshold Group, which has a £520m property portfolio and made an £80m profit to the year ending June 30, 2016.

PENSIONS WOE The black hole facing Britain’s gold-plated pension schemes deepened by £90bn last year, the latest figures show. Accountancy firm PwC said the deficit of defined benefit funds widened from £470bn to £560bn in 2016. Companies would now need to find an extra £10bn a year to plug the gap in the next decades.

TOP TECH Smart buildings tech firm RedstoneConnect has reported strong trading at the top end of market expectations. The AIM-listed business, which installs technology to automatically control building operations such as heating, air conditioning and lighting, signed new contracts worth £15.4m over the year to January 2017.

FESTIVE SUCCESS Demand for Christmas party dresses has boosted sales at womenswear brand Quiz. Turnover at the family-owned retailer soared 19.2pc in the last three months of 2016. UK like-for-like sales rose 6.7pc while online sales jumped 75pc. It opened 50 new shops in the UK and Ireland last year, taking the total to 300.