Mike Ashley

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

Meeting Mike Ashley: Simon Bird heads in pursuit of the answers the silent Newcastle owner is unwilling to give

 

17 Sep 2013 11:28

 

Our reporter heads to Sports Direct's AGM near Shirebrook in an attempt to speak with the billionaire... but finds a familiar PR lock down.

 

Mike Ashley is in front of me, at last.

 

There he is, no more than a penalty kick away. Dressed in jeans and a crisp white shirt, sitting on the stage in a vast, virtually empty, lecture theatre.

 

It is the Sports Direct AGM. The company Ashley founded in 1982 as a small retail store, has just been elevated to the FTSE 100, meaning 31 years on, Sports Direct is one of the nation's biggest firms.

 

This is an exciting moment for a reporter who covers Newcastle United. A close encounter, for me, of the third kind.

 

For Mike Ashley is a mystery man. The owner who never speaks. Five years since he bought Newcastle for £133million, he's never gone on or off the record to explain why?

 

The first time I got this close, in fact closer, was in Majorca in the summer of 2008, at a pre season friendly. A colleague and I got him chatting. How you going to do this season? How's Keegan doing? What position will you finish in this term?

 

He gave brief answers, staring out to the pitch, thinking we were fans.

 

When we fronted up and admitted, "that's great Mike, the thing is we are journalists, any chance of a word on the record", he was swiftly whisked back inside by Derek Llambias.

 

Pity the unfortunate Newcastle press officer of the time who got a finger wagging public rollicking for failing to stop our outrageous, liberty-taking advance.

 

The second meeting was also at a Sports Direct AGM, in the wake of Kevin Keegan's departure. We were promised a quick word by Ashley's slick talking lieutenants, but that went up in smoke when a news reporter from the Sun stood up in the AGM and started shouting, causing PR lock down.

 

So here I am at HQ in Shirebrook, near Mansfield, for another attempt to get in front of the most elusive man in football.

 

Outside is a warehouse temple to consumerism. The control centre of a business that raked in £2.186bn in revenue last year and made pre tax profits of £207million. And you thought the numbers in football transfers were big. If you'd bought £1,000 of Sports Direct shares in 2008, they'd be worth £22,000 now.

 

Storage units stretch half a mile, with lorries loading up with cut price sports goods to supply 350 stores and a European-wide internet operation.

 

Below Ashley's lecture theatre, you can buy tracky bottoms for a fiver and every conceivable make and model or sports shoe. Not only does Ashley sell it, he owns many of the brands too. Dunlop, Slazenger and Lonsdale.

 

I recall the inflated prices of sports goods in my childhood, and compare it with the much fairer deals on offer here, and it is not surprise the nation is snapping up the bargains, and swelling Ashley's profits.

 

The AGM is underway, with about six small time shareholders present. Yellow cards are raised to pass resolutions re-electing directors. But they hardly matter, as Ashley and those with huge stakes in the company have already cast their votes.... one passed with 535,073,384 votes for the motion!

 

Then the excitement mounts. Resolution No3 and Ashley takes the chair and speaks.

 

Yes, I can confirm, he has a voice. And yes, it is a cockney accent, not that the inclusive Geordie hold that against him.

 

"Motion to re-elect Keith Hellawell chairman and director," Ashley says.

 

And a JOKE too. "Dave, don't vote...."

 

People on the top table chuckle. A kind of sports retail world insider joke aimed at his right hand man, but a joke all the same.

But then Ashley remembers this is the deadly serious AGM of a FTSE 100 company, and adds: "For the record that was a joke I said about Dave..."

 

Thank goodness that was clarified.

 

Then silence. Ashely fiddles with his yellow voting voting card, as resolutions are carried by the squillions of votes already cast by post.

 

It is slick and business like, and I am poised with a list of questions related to Newcastle United and Sports Direct.

 

Questions that need answering, like: Sports Direct gets huge global TV publicity with their Newcastle United tie up - specifically the extensive stadium advertising. Can you confirm what the NUFC accounts indicate, that Sports Direct don't pay for these adverts? Is that fair to NUFC? It reduces their income and spending power?

 

Questions like: Mike, you've turned Sports Direct into a dominant brand and to new heights of success - is your ambition the same for NUFC?

 

Questions like: Any plans to sell NUFC to concentrate on Sports Direct because of the hassle and grief you get - or do you enjoy it?

 

Questions like: Any plans to appoint Joe Kinnear Director of Football Boots?

 

Well, maybe not the last one, but these were simple legitimate puzzles that needed an answer.

 

But no, we've been instructed there will be no questions from the press. Only those with company voting rights.

 

An ethical business reporter from the Guardian has also turned up to ask about the use - much criticised - of zero hours contracts. No questions allowed from her either.

 

But hang one. Now I am excited.

 

Chairman Keith Hellawell, former police chief and Labour Government drugs czar, is bringing proceedings to a close. He announces that directors will mingle for coffee and biscuits and will be happy to chat. This is common practice at most big company AGMs. Press the flesh, put on a human face, butter up the shareholders with a few words.

 

Only Ashley, who has glanced in my direction a couple of times, has other ideas. He whispers something to his loyal ally, Dave Forsey, who has been alongside him since 1984.

 

Maybe I'm paranoid, but he seems to be saying there are a couple of journalists in the house, and there's no way....

 

Or maybe he just needs the loo.

 

Whatever the reason, Mike gets up almost before Hellawell has even closed the meeting, and darts to the side exit, the opposite side to the tea urn and custard creams.

 

He is gone for another year. No questions, no breaking down the barriers. No explanations or guidance on Sports Direct or Newcastle United.

 

Which is unfortunate, and slightly depressing.

 

Because Ashley could muster strong arguments for some of the things he's done at Newcastle. Prudent financial management. Keeping ticket prices low (ish), especially for kids. Stumping up a £140million interest free loan (since reduced by reclaiming £11million) to fund rebuilding of the 2009 relegated squad.

 

There are also controversies to explain. Joe Kinnear's appointment. Not signing another striker this summer. Recouping that loan and it's impact on Newcastle's transfer business.

 

I explain this to an Ashley friend and loyalist. He is sympathetic, but has an explanation about Ashley's silence for the last five years which is illuminating.

 

Since he founded Sports Direct, he has done it HIS way. His own gut instinct, his own brain computing risks and rewards, and usually he comes up trumps. "Take a look at the operation that surrounds you." It is a fair point.

 

I am told that the thing about Mike is that he doesn't really care what anyone else thinks. He does it his way. If flack comes, and he has had it from the financial sector too when Sports Direct first floated on the stock exchange, he ploughs on, unruffled.

 

The thing is, I explain, football is different from normal businesses. The emotions, mood, hopes and dreams of a fan base are tied up in the decisions he makes as owner. I am told Ashley gets that part too.

 

And that is it. The AGM over and the lecture theatre empties. The Guardian's ethical finance reporter is scurrying around looking for answers regarding zero-hour contracts. Nothing much seems forthcoming. It is not just sports reporters having problems getting answers.

 

The pity is Mike Ashley has a remarkable story to tell, in business, and from five rocky years at Newcastle. One day maybe he will front up and tell it. He will be a much more understood figure if he does. And a much less divisive one among Newcastle fans, I am sure.

 

But until he does he will remain a controversial owner refusing to make himself accountable to the fans who will be there long after he has sold up.

 

Having come from humble roots and achieved amazing success in business, he will remain in the ranks of the aloof super-rich who think they have a duty to explain themselves to no-one.

 

All through the summer, Newcastle fans have demanded journalists "ask the hard questions" of Ashley, and the club.

 

I am willing, and will keep trying.

 

But you also need people who are prepared to answer.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/meeting-newcastle-owner-mike-ashley-2279332

[AlanSkÃrare]

Good intentions from Bird. He's come on a bit I think.

 

 

[sempuki]

Meeting Mike Ashley: Simon Bird heads in pursuit of the answers the silent Newcastle owner is unwilling to give

 

17 Sep 2013 11:28

 

Our reporter heads to Sports Direct's AGM near Shirebrook in an attempt to speak with the billionaire... but finds a familiar PR lock down.

 

Mike Ashley is in front of me, at last.

 

There he is, no more than a penalty kick away. Dressed in jeans and a crisp white shirt, sitting on the stage in a vast, virtually empty, lecture theatre.

 

It is the Sports Direct AGM. The company Ashley founded in 1982 as a small retail store, has just been elevated to the FTSE 100, meaning 31 years on, Sports Direct is one of the nation's biggest firms.

 

This is an exciting moment for a reporter who covers Newcastle United. A close encounter, for me, of the third kind.

 

For Mike Ashley is a mystery man. The owner who never speaks. Five years since he bought Newcastle for £133million, he's never gone on or off the record to explain why?

 

The first time I got this close, in fact closer, was in Majorca in the summer of 2008, at a pre season friendly. A colleague and I got him chatting. How you going to do this season? How's Keegan doing? What position will you finish in this term?

 

He gave brief answers, staring out to the pitch, thinking we were fans.

 

When we fronted up and admitted, "that's great Mike, the thing is we are journalists, any chance of a word on the record", he was swiftly whisked back inside by Derek Llambias.

 

Pity the unfortunate Newcastle press officer of the time who got a finger wagging public rollicking for failing to stop our outrageous, liberty-taking advance.

 

The second meeting was also at a Sports Direct AGM, in the wake of Kevin Keegan's departure. We were promised a quick word by Ashley's slick talking lieutenants, but that went up in smoke when a news reporter from the Sun stood up in the AGM and started shouting, causing PR lock down.

 

So here I am at HQ in Shirebrook, near Mansfield, for another attempt to get in front of the most elusive man in football.

 

Outside is a warehouse temple to consumerism. The control centre of a business that raked in £2.186bn in revenue last year and made pre tax profits of £207million. And you thought the numbers in football transfers were big. If you'd bought £1,000 of Sports Direct shares in 2008, they'd be worth £22,000 now.

 

Storage units stretch half a mile, with lorries loading up with cut price sports goods to supply 350 stores and a European-wide internet operation.

 

Below Ashley's lecture theatre, you can buy tracky bottoms for a fiver and every conceivable make and model or sports shoe. Not only does Ashley sell it, he owns many of the brands too. Dunlop, Slazenger and Lonsdale.

 

I recall the inflated prices of sports goods in my childhood, and compare it with the much fairer deals on offer here, and it is not surprise the nation is snapping up the bargains, and swelling Ashley's profits.

 

The AGM is underway, with about six small time shareholders present. Yellow cards are raised to pass resolutions re-electing directors. But they hardly matter, as Ashley and those with huge stakes in the company have already cast their votes.... one passed with 535,073,384 votes for the motion!

 

Then the excitement mounts. Resolution No3 and Ashley takes the chair and speaks.

 

Yes, I can confirm, he has a voice. And yes, it is a cockney accent, not that the inclusive Geordie hold that against him.

 

"Motion to re-elect Keith Hellawell chairman and director," Ashley says.

 

And a JOKE too. "Dave, don't vote...."

 

People on the top table chuckle. A kind of sports retail world insider joke aimed at his right hand man, but a joke all the same.

But then Ashley remembers this is the deadly serious AGM of a FTSE 100 company, and adds: "For the record that was a joke I said about Dave..."

 

Thank goodness that was clarified.

 

Then silence. Ashely fiddles with his yellow voting voting card, as resolutions are carried by the squillions of votes already cast by post.

 

It is slick and business like, and I am poised with a list of questions related to Newcastle United and Sports Direct.

 

Questions that need answering, like: Sports Direct gets huge global TV publicity with their Newcastle United tie up - specifically the extensive stadium advertising. Can you confirm what the NUFC accounts indicate, that Sports Direct don't pay for these adverts? Is that fair to NUFC? It reduces their income and spending power?

 

Questions like: Mike, you've turned Sports Direct into a dominant brand and to new heights of success - is your ambition the same for NUFC?

 

Questions like: Any plans to sell NUFC to concentrate on Sports Direct because of the hassle and grief you get - or do you enjoy it?

 

Questions like: Any plans to appoint Joe Kinnear Director of Football Boots?

 

Well, maybe not the last one, but these were simple legitimate puzzles that needed an answer.

 

But no, we've been instructed there will be no questions from the press. Only those with company voting rights.

 

An ethical business reporter from the Guardian has also turned up to ask about the use - much criticised - of zero hours contracts. No questions allowed from her either.

 

But hang one. Now I am excited.

 

Chairman Keith Hellawell, former police chief and Labour Government drugs czar, is bringing proceedings to a close. He announces that directors will mingle for coffee and biscuits and will be happy to chat. This is common practice at most big company AGMs. Press the flesh, put on a human face, butter up the shareholders with a few words.

 

Only Ashley, who has glanced in my direction a couple of times, has other ideas. He whispers something to his loyal ally, Dave Forsey, who has been alongside him since 1984.

 

Maybe I'm paranoid, but he seems to be saying there are a couple of journalists in the house, and there's no way....

 

Or maybe he just needs the loo.

 

Whatever the reason, Mike gets up almost before Hellawell has even closed the meeting, and darts to the side exit, the opposite side to the tea urn and custard creams.

 

He is gone for another year. No questions, no breaking down the barriers. No explanations or guidance on Sports Direct or Newcastle United.

 

Which is unfortunate, and slightly depressing.

 

Because Ashley could muster strong arguments for some of the things he's done at Newcastle. Prudent financial management. Keeping ticket prices low (ish), especially for kids. Stumping up a £140million interest free loan (since reduced by reclaiming £11million) to fund rebuilding of the 2009 relegated squad.

 

There are also controversies to explain. Joe Kinnear's appointment. Not signing another striker this summer. Recouping that loan and it's impact on Newcastle's transfer business.

 

I explain this to an Ashley friend and loyalist. He is sympathetic, but has an explanation about Ashley's silence for the last five years which is illuminating.

 

Since he founded Sports Direct, he has done it HIS way. His own gut instinct, his own brain computing risks and rewards, and usually he comes up trumps. "Take a look at the operation that surrounds you." It is a fair point.

 

I am told that the thing about Mike is that he doesn't really care what anyone else thinks. He does it his way. If flack comes, and he has had it from the financial sector too when Sports Direct first floated on the stock exchange, he ploughs on, unruffled.

 

The thing is, I explain, football is different from normal businesses. The emotions, mood, hopes and dreams of a fan base are tied up in the decisions he makes as owner. I am told Ashley gets that part too.

 

And that is it. The AGM over and the lecture theatre empties. The Guardian's ethical finance reporter is scurrying around looking for answers regarding zero-hour contracts. Nothing much seems forthcoming. It is not just sports reporters having problems getting answers.

 

The pity is Mike Ashley has a remarkable story to tell, in business, and from five rocky years at Newcastle. One day maybe he will front up and tell it. He will be a much more understood figure if he does. And a much less divisive one among Newcastle fans, I am sure.

 

But until he does he will remain a controversial owner refusing to make himself accountable to the fans who will be there long after he has sold up.

 

Having come from humble roots and achieved amazing success in business, he will remain in the ranks of the aloof super-rich who think they have a duty to explain themselves to no-one.

 

All through the summer, Newcastle fans have demanded journalists "ask the hard questions" of Ashley, and the club.

 

I am willing, and will keep trying.

 

But you also need people who are prepared to answer.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/meeting-newcastle-owner-mike-ashley-2279332

 

He really seems determined to retain the allure of a man of mystery. Silence is not always golden.

[Ronaldo]

Good intentions from Bird. He's come on a bit I think.

 

 

 

Forgotten how long Ashley's owned the club, like.

[AlanSkÃrare]

Good intentions from Bird. He's come on a bit I think.

 

 

Forgotten how long Ashley's owned the club, like.

 

Don't expect any journalist to get all facts right anymore. I guess you're nothing more than a typical NUFC fan having too high expectations.

[Tooj]

One of them on the True Faith podcast was saying how they went in the club shop and asked if they bought a shirt from NUFC Direct and it didn't fit could it be exchanged in there but apparently it can't as that has nothing to do with our own club shop.

[BONTEMPI]

Good intentions from Bird. He's come on a bit I think.

 

 

 

Amazing how being called a cunt can give you extra focus.

[SEMTEX]

Good intentions from Bird. He's come on a bit I think.

 

 

 

Amazing how being called a cunt can give you extra focus.

 

Cunt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're welcome.

[Interpolic]

@Mike_Ashley_In: Those wanting MA out always say some fans love looking at the accounts, yet they are constantly bleating on about the SD advertising. #NUFC

 

This account man

 

That's fucking stupid.

[Guest neesy111]

@Mike_Ashley_In: Those wanting MA out always say some fans love looking at the accounts, yet they are constantly bleating on about the SD advertising. #NUFC

 

This account man

 

Probably a mackem.

[NG32]

Do i really have to create a twatter account and muppet that account!

[Interpolic]

I have a Twitter account but hardly ever use it, what would you like me to say to him?

[Mistle17]

Are people still boycotting the Leeds game or now that we've won 2 on the bounce people will go back and ignore the problem?

[BONTEMPI]

Good intentions from Bird. He's come on a bit I think.

 

 

 

Amazing how being called a cunt can give you extra focus.

 

Cunt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're welcome.

 

Fanny hair

[NG32]

Are people still boycotting the Leeds game or now that we've won 2 on the bounce people will go back and ignore the problem?

 

Pree game noshing sesh mow

[NG32]

I have a Twitter account but hardly ever use it, what would you like me to say to him?

 

Give him some typical mackem internet throw down of "fuck off"

 

Under pressure now, dunno 

[Darth Crooks]

IGNORE THE REGIME

 

yeah... let's ignore the perpetual shafting. Sounds like a plan.

[cp40]

IGNORE THE REGIME

 

yeah... let's ignore the perpetual shafting. Sounds like a plan.

 

 

is taht cos we won 2 games?

[Dokko]

So brettnufc finally figured out twitter.

[Interpolic]

I have a Twitter account but hardly ever use it, what would you like me to say to him?

 

Give him some typical mackem internet throw down of "fuck off"

 

Under pressure now, dunno 

 

I'm not putting my name to that Gimp, it's rubbish.

[Guest neesy111]

http://www.nust.org.uk/newcastle-united-fans-forum-report

 

The minutes from that fan forum thing. It's pretty damn   particularly the fact they've explicitly said they don't care about cup competitions but only about staying in the league.

 

There's no ambition at the club.

[Lotus]

http://www.nust.org.uk/newcastle-united-fans-forum-report

 

The minutes from that fan forum thing. It's pretty damn   particularly the fact they've explicitly said they don't care about cup competitions but only about staying in the league.

 

I must say, reading that further strengthens the notion that there is absolutely no sporting ambition at the club. Which is a little hard to take tbh.

[NG32]

The club is now just a business - end of.

 

The fans have been converted into customers.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

The club is now just a business - end of.

 

The fans have been converted into customers.

 

Replace 'the club' with 'football'.

[Wallace]

It also highlights the misinformation and all the contradictions coming out of the club.

 

- Can't afford players because it will mean using our overdraft but in that meeting, they say the finances are healthy.

 

- Main priority to hold on to existing players rather than buy but spent all Summer going on about how they want to buy x players.

 

- No revenue from Sports Direct but their advertising is only present to fill boardings that would otherwise be blank!

 

- Heard before that they perceive the Cups to be a nuisance but they say they wil be used to utilise the squad when Pardew says he wants to play the strongest team.