Sports Direct's Ashley thanks workers ahead of select committee

High street retailer Sports Direct published a statement on Tuesday, over the decision from chairman Mike Ashley to appear before the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.

The FTSE 250 firm confirmed Ashley will give evidence to the committee at 1100 BST.

Its board said that during the session, Ashley intends to answer questions in line with the company’s previously announced statements in relation to Sports Direct’s employment practices, and provide comment on the progress of the board’s review of agency worker terms and conditions at its National Distribution Centre in Shirebrook.

The company announced the review of agency worker conditions on 18 December, after an investigation led by the Guardian uncovered allegations of poor treatment of agency workers, which led Sports Direct’s share price to plummet in late 2015.

At the time, the newspaper alleged workers at the centre were being paid wages effectively below the minimum wage.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank all of the people at Sports Direct for their hard work, commitment and amazing achievements over the years,” Ashley said early on Tuesday morning.

“I and the board are proud of our people and what we stand for, and I know that we can move onwards and upwards for the benefit of all of our stakeholders.”

The statement came after Ashley performed a u-turn on top of a u-turn on Monday, saying he would appear before the committee.

Last week, he cancelled the appearance despite warnings of being in contempt of Parliament, blaming his lawyer’s diary for his then inability to attend.