Mike Ashley: I should have done better overseeing HR issues

Mike Ashley, Founder and Deputy Chairman of Sports Direct, has admitted that he should have done a better job managing the corporate governance and HR problems that have beset the company.

Speaking to BBC One's Breakfast, he also conceded that he’s a PR nightmare and attributed the current state of his firm’s reputation on “odd isolated instances” and “[a few] rotten apples in the barrel”.

When challenged that, as Founder of Sports Direct, he should know what’s going on, he said: “You’d be surprised how little I knew - and that’s where the failing was.

“Should I have known more, yes? Did I know what was happening? Absolutely not.”