Thursday 07 March 2019 6:48 pm | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 1:01 am

Mike Ashley moves to oust Debenhams board and appoint himself as director

Retail tycoon Mike Ashley has ramped up the pressure on embattled department store chain Debenhams this evening, after making an audacious bid to axe most of the firm’s directors and appoint himself to the board.

In a surprise announcement made on the London Stock Exchange tonight, the billionaire magnate pledged to step down from his current role as director and chief executive of Sports Direct if he is appointed in "an executive role" at the beleaguered high street firm.

Ashley, who owns Sports Direct and has recently been on a spending spree for some of Britain's largest high street retailers, has demanded a general meeting to Debenhams to appoint himself to the board of directors.

It is the latest sign of Ashley’s attempts to seize control of the retailer, which issued a fresh profit warning earlier this week as refinancing costs and trading conditions spelled further trouble for the firm.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange this evening, the retailer said: "Sports Direct has today requisitioned a general meeting of Debenhams to appoint Mr Mike Ashley to the board of directors of Debenhams and to remove all of the current members of the Debenhams board (other than Rachel Osborne who became a director in September 2018)."

It added: "If Mr Ashley were to be appointed to the board of directors of Debenhams during this business critical period for Debenhams, Mr Ashley would carry out an executive role, and would focus on the Debenhams business, including building a strong board and management team. If appointed, Mr Ashley would step down from his current roles as a director and chief executive of Sports Direct. He would be replaced as acting chief executive by Chris Wootton, currently Sports Direct's deputy chief financial officer.

"Sports Direct wishes to reassure its shareholders that, if Mr Ashley were to be appointed to the board of Debenhams and step down from his roles at Sports Direct, Sports Direct and Mr Ashley have every confidence that acting chief executive Mr Wootton and the other members of Sports Direct's board and management team have the necessary expertise to continue to successfully run the Sports Direct business."

The move comes several months after Ashley and another major shareholder voted out the chairman and chief executive of Debenhams from the retailer’s boardroom.

Chairman Ian Cheshire resigned immediately but chief executive Sergio Bucher has stayed on, though not as a director.

Ashley – who holds just under 30 per of Debenhams’ shares – has in recent months made his growing frustration with the department store clear, which he said had refused to accept a £40m loan offer. He said the firm’s intransigence "makes you want to blow your brains out".