Latest twist in the Sports Direct tale
MPs from the Business and Skills Committee were left aghast yesterday after Sports Direct allegedly made attempts to record their private discussions during a surprise visit to Sports Direct’s Shirebrook warehouse.
MPs arrived at the Derbyshire site only giving a few hours’ notice as part of their investigation into working practices.
After a three-hour tour, they started discussing their observations in a private room and were brought a tray of sandwiches in which a recording device was found.
One of the six MPs, Anna Turley, MP for Redcar, said: “At the end of the meeting, we sat down to have a private conversation in a room by ourselves.
“A lady came in with some sandwiches, which was very kind. I saw her take too long to do it, she put it down and I saw her put a recording device on the floor.
“She left the room and I went over to pick up the device and there it was: a camera and a recording device for the conversation that we were having privately.
“I’m very disappointed.”
The committee chairman, Iain Wright said he spoke to Sports Direct’s chief executive, Mike Ashley, on the phone after the MPs left the warehouse.
He said: “I don’t think it was a particularly pleasant conversation for either of us.
“I want to work with Mike Ashley in a constructive manner. I don’t think he wants to work with us at all any more.”
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