Few retail personalities polarise opinion as strongly as Sports Direct founder and executive deputy chairman Mike Ashley.

Few retail personalities polarise opinion as strongly as Sports Direct founder and executive deputy chairman Mike Ashley.

The tracksuit tycoon typically divides spectators as decisively as a Northeast derby and his controversial behaviour has made him and his business a lightning-rod for criticism.

Zero-hours contracts, widely used by Sports Direct, have become an election issue.

And the spotlight was turned on the retailer’s employment and pricing practices in a Channel 4 Dispatches programme this week.

But there’s no doubting the retail prowess that has made Ashley a billionaire. From his origins as a sole trader, Ashley built Sports Direct into a business that saw off rivals Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris-style.

The retailer’s IPO in 2007 was a game of two halves as investors bought in, only to feel sick as a parrot as the share price fell, but it has climbed strongly since then.

But recently, amid the rows and some trading concerns, Sports Direct’s shares have fallen from a high this year of 719p to 617.34p at the time of writing.

Changes to the rules

The rules on zero-hours look likely to change after the general election, whoever comes to power.

The irony is that their abandonment would likely make no difference to the retailer in the grand scheme of things.

RBC analyst Richard Chamberlain believes that most of Sports Direct’s 15,000 part-time staff are on zero-hours contracts.

He observed in a note this week: “If it moves away from these we think that the overall cost burden would be fairly immaterial.”

It’s a pity that distractions such as zero-hours have hogged the limelight. From a business perspective there are bigger issues.

Sports Direct is the UK market leader so where does it go next. The ‘premium lifestyle’ division doesn’t wash its face and ventures such as selling through Debenhams are at a fledgling stage.

The big opportunity, recognised by Sports Direct, is international expansion. Ashley and his team view Decathlon as their global competitor and have been expanding overseas.

International is estimated to account for about 25% off Sports Direct’s retail sales, but it has so far not made the retail impact overseas that might have been hoped for.

The retailer should put zero-hours behind it and increase focus more on overseas opportunities. Then it might be yet become a Pele on the retail pitch.