Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group should consider repaying furlough cash after it emerged his son-in-law could receive a £10m bonus, local MP says
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group should consider repaying furlough cash after it emerged his son-in-law could receive a £100million bonus, the billionaire’s local MP has said.
The Conservative MP for Bolsover, which includes Ashley’s Shirebrook warehouse, has slammed the plan after Frasers accepted £177million in handouts, including furlough help as recently as April.
Payout: Michael Murray, with Mike Ashley’s daughter, Anna, could receive £100m
The owner of the Sports Direct and House of Fraser chains plans to pay future chief executive Michael Murray the sum if his son-in-law hits a ‘stretching and achievable’ share price target of £15 by 2025, from £6.57 today. That would increase Ashley’s wealth by more than £2.5billion.
But Mark Fletcher MP said: ‘It is a great shame Mike Ashley and the Frasers Group are choosing to spend so much money on payouts to senior executives when so many of their employees have had such a difficult year.
‘I am incredibly proud of what the furlough scheme achieved. The taxpayer has spent an incredible amount of money to help keep businesses like Sports Direct afloat and with that comes a level of responsibility to their employees and their community. While I don’t believe every company should be expected to, handing back furlough repayments is a glowing example of civic business practice.’