Retail news round-up on March 22, 2016: Mike Ashley brands MPs who wants to question him as "joke", and Ocado founder may sell stake to fund divorce battle.

Mike Ashley refuses to appear before Parliamentary select committee

Sports Direct’s billionaire founder Mike Ashley has refused to appear in front of MPs in Parliament.

He has also confirmed he will not give evidence in Parliament over the retailer's use of zero-hour contracts and staff treatment.

He has slammed the MPs who want to question him as “a joke”.

Addressing the committee directly, he said: “Come here and see it for yourself. You will have to apologise once you’ve been here … They [committee members] would make a lot more informed decision if they were able to see it for themselves and then I don’t think they would actually need to want to see me and carry on the media circus.

“They clearly don’t care about the people at Sports Direct. In my opinion they are just showboating. In my opinion they are actually a joke.”

Ocado boss could cash in on stake sale to fund divorce

Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner could likely be forced to offload some of his 5% stake worth millions of pounds in the online delivery business to fund a divorce settlement, The Times reported.

Steiner is seeking a divorce from his wife Belinda on the ground of her ‘unreasonable behaviour’.