Mike Ashley to appoint himself chairman of Sports Direct

Mike Ashley expected to be installed as chairman

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Retail tycoon Mike Ashley is expected to promote himself to chairman at Sports Direct International this week after he failed to attract any big hitters to take on the position.

 

Ashley is expected to confirm his controversial promotion at the company's half year results on Wednesday.

Sports Direct's previous chairman David Richardson quit the post in May after a disagreement with the board. Sports Direct is understood to have struggled to attract high calibre candidates for the chairman role amidst concerns about the company's take on corporate governance and Ashley's management style.

As a result, Ashley, who owns 70% of the company, is likely to step up from his position as deputy executive chairman to chairman and a new deputy chairman will be brought in. The Sunday Times said that Sports Direct was courting Alan Jackson, non-executive chairman of Luminar Leisure to replace Ashley as deputy chairman. 

Since Sports Direct International, which is made up of Lillywhites and Sports World, floated 10 months ago, the business has issued several profit warnings and has been lambasted by the City for failing to disclose information about trading.