Sports Direct faces high court battle over £5.4m property bill

Shirebrook-based Sports Direct is in a High Court dispute with JPMorgan over a £5.4m property bill.

This bill pertains to a vacant unit in Wigan that Sports Direct left in 2019 after using a break clause in their 10-year lease.

JPMorgan claims that Sports Direct, owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers, didn’t complete necessary refurbishment work before leaving, breaching contractual obligations and causing damage, as stated in court documents.

As reported by the Financial Times, the financial services firm is now seeking £5.4 m, which includes £3.3m for refurbishment expenses, £1.8m in lost rent, and interest accrued since November 2022.

The bank had supplied Sports Direct with a detailed cost breakdown in November of the previous year, but Sports Direct did not respond as per the dilapidations protocol at that time.

Lawyers for JPMorgan Europe said: “In the final six weeks of the term of the lease, Sports Direct started removing the mezzanines and racking. They did a poor job of this and ran out of time. There was considerable debris on site, numerous projecting fixing bolts in the floor, and poorly disconnected services including safety equipment such as the fire alarm and sprinklers.”