‘I’m not Father Christmas’ – Sports Direct boss fights back over store closures

The boss of Sports Direct has told a government select committee he “isn’t father Christmas” after being questioned over the future of House of Fraser.

Mike Ashley, appearing before the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee was in a combative mood yesterday afternoon (3 December) as he talked down alleged bad treatment of customers at the department store and zero-hours contracts.

Asked whether the impact of House of Fraser store closures keeps him awake at night, Ashley replied: “I’m not sitting in my office stroking a white cat and it’s not my fault the high street is dying. It’s very very simple, the internet is killing the high street. The question is: what to do about it. The mainstream high streets are already dead. We have to ask: could we save the vast minority? What could we do for them?”

Ashley denied that he made a promises to keep 59 House of Fraser stores open, saying: “What person could keep 59 stores open, besides God? I’m not Father Christmas, I’m actually a very fair guy.”

He said one way to save the High Street was to introduce an online sales tax affecting stores that do a certain proportion of their trading online – a move he said which would motivate retailers selling more than 20% online to keep bricks and mortar outlets open so they are not affected by the tax.”

He added: “I’m not the crazy capitalist everybody thinks I am.”

Ashley has been involved in a very public spat with shopping centre owner intu, and has announced that the Nottingham House of Fraser store would be one of four located in the firm’s mall to close. When asked what kind of rent reductions retailers need, he said: “In the base rents, it’s probably going to be around 50%.

“Some landlords are going to get nothing, other landlords are going to keep 100%.”

Clive Betts, the chair of the committee, responded by saying: “You’ve told us that you’re not a pantomime villain, you’re not Father Christmas.

“I think you’ve still left us to decide whether you’re the wicked uncle or the fairy godmother and time will no doubt tell.”