Inside Mike Ashley’s ‘gulag’: We took a tour around a Sports Direct warehouse

Thomas Colson

Mike Ashley, founder of Sports Direct.

Mike Ashley’s guided tour of the Sports Direct warehouse was perhaps the most bizarre part of an “open day” that moved between stage-managed PR exercises and angry outbursts from company’s billionaire founder at the group’s Annual General Meeting.

Allegations of harassment, abuse and illegal working practices in the Derbyshire warehouse have formed a central part of the criticism levelled against the company since a Guardian exposé caused widespread outrage last year when workers described working there as a “gulag.”

Since then UK politicians have called for major reforms to working practices and corporate governance at Sports Direct, after publishing a damning report comparing working conditions at the retailer’s warehouses to “a Victorian workhouse.” 

However, in a gesture of public accountability, Ashley took a group of reporters and shareholders, dressed in hi-vis jackets, around the retailer’s new warehouse facility, which is used largely for fulfilling online orders.

It quickly became clear that Ashley’s priority for the tour was emphasising the “sheer size and scale” of the whole operation, which he believes explains why mistakes were not noticed and abusive working practices were allowed to flourish.

Here is what Business Insider saw when we went on the tour with Ashley.

Ashley started the tour in a good mood and posed for photos despite having shouted at a Unite employee only moments before at the group’s AGM nearby.

It didn’t last long, however. When a reporter asked for the third time if Ashley was sorry for revelations about abusive working practices, he turned and snapped: “Of course I’m sorry. Who wouldn’t be? But we’re trying to be positive here, we’re trying to do things right.”

“People really struggle with the size and scale of things here,” Ashley said. This empty warehouse has been created to provide extra room for stock. That, he said, was proof that the board do plan things in advance, contrary to the widespread perception of poor corporate planning. “So we do think about things more than we maybe communicate,” he said.

The school-like canteen, which seats 700 people, is the smallest of four on the site. However reporters were issued with a packed lunch beforehand. It is open 24 hours a day. Like the rest of the facility, it was almost completely empty — despite the fact 4,000 workers are employed there.

Body searches are routine at Sports Direct, and attracted much criticism because they were so frequent, and conducted after workers’ shifts when they were not being paid. Ashley offered a demonstration of a typical search to show how straightforward they are.

He went to empty his pockets…

… and pulled out an enormous wad of £50 notes. “I’ve just been to the casino,” he said before adding, “don’t write that.”

When some wondered why the tour had been led outside, Ashley pointed to the bridge, and explained that Sports Direct had built it so workers didn’t have to cross a busy road to reach the car park. “So when people say we don’t care,” he said, “we do.” He chose to ignore the Unite protest at the other end.

Members of the tour were kept away from workers, and shepherded around by lines of orange-jacketed security guards.

“Size is no excuse,” said Ashley, gesturing down one of dozens of empty corridors. “That wasn’t a joke, don’t try and make out like it was, but when you look at the size and scale here it is almost impossible not to make mistakes.”

The new warehouse receives 30,000 orders a day, mostly for Sports Direct’s lines of discounted sportswear.

Workers, Ashley said, can be expected to walk miles in order to pick a single web order. “If you tell me I have to go and pick a pair of size 8 trainers,” he said, “I could be back in two days.” He said that a new conveyor belt would speed up the collection process.

Signs at the warehouse, where many workers are from Poland, are displayed in both English and Polish.

Here is a “Top 500″ leaderboard for employees — only one in eight employees can make the list.

The scale of the facility is difficult to convey — reporters were told that “less than 10% of the facility” had been visited.

The Guardian revealed that the tannoy system was used to name individuals and tell them to “speed up your order.” Ashley said the tannoy system was staying, however, and added that he “hopes” it is correctly used. The tannoy was not used once in the entire visit, which the Guardian reporter said was highly unusual.

And here is a lorry waiting to be loaded with online orders.

Ashley was still willing to pose for photos at the end of the tour, but looked tired and edgy. Less than half an hour later Ashley undertook an intense question and answer session before reporters and investors where he said “I do believe I’m the right man for the job,” before asking shareholders for a year to turn Sports Direct around.

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