Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley added to his roster of iconic quotes today when he told a High Court judge he is “a power drinker”.
The infamous retail entrepreneur took the stand today in the ongoing court case brought against him by former financial advisor Jeff Blue.
Ashley dismissed Blue’s claim that he had offered to pay him £15m for his services as “nonsense”.
But Ashley did not shy away from allegations about his unorthodox management meetings, one of which Blue claims descended into Ashley drinking 12 pints before vomiting into a pub fireplace.
Ashley said he did not remember the evening in question, but nevertheless declared himself as “a power drinker” who enjoyed getting drunk, whilst dismissing Blue as “a lightweight when it comes to drinking”.
Ashley is not immune to foot-in-mouth moments and has become well-versed in being the subject of headline fodder in recent years.
One can only presume he will be as unapologetic about the performance of Sports Direct in its full-year results later this month as he is about his behaviour at the pub.
Also today, Holland & Barrett posted a drop in profits in its preliminary results, House of Fraser entered redundancy consultations with some head office staff and Tesco partnered with Uber in a raft of changes to its Clubcard loyalty programme.
Quote of the day
“I like to get drunk, I’m a power drinker. My thing is not to drink regularly, it’s to binge drink”
– Sports Direct founder and chief executive Mike Ashley
Today in numbers
13%
The rise in Primark’s sales in the 40 weeks to June 24
£112.8m
Holland & Barrett’s preliminary pre-tax profits, down 12%
Friday’s agenda
Dunelm is posting its fourth-quarter results and look out for our video on Westfield London’s extension, as well as an analysis on five things retailers can learn from Brewdog.
Grace Bowden, reporter
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