Chastened by two relegations in as many months, Mike Ashley looks set to try to avoid another fall by relenting to demands to face MPs questions over employment practices at Sports Direct International PLC (LON:SPD).
The Telegraph reported that Ashley has agreed to appear at Westminster to answer questions about the use of zero-hours contracts at the chain and its warehouse in the East Midlands.
MPs have threatened Ashley with a charge of contempt of Parliament unless the Newcastle United owner turns up.
But Ashley, whose team has just been demoted to the Championship following SPD’s drop from the FTSE 100 Index in March, has reportedly only agreed to do so if the politicians visit his warehouse first.
They might be tempted to accept, given that he’s said to have offered to fly them there in his personal helicopter.
Meanwhile, the newspaper reported that a potential UK decision to leave the EU may cause British house prices to crash by a quarter.
The Times reports that veteran US investor Warren Buffett has taken a US$1bn bite out of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Apple shares rose by 3.7 per cent to $93.88 on Wall Street after Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said it had accumulated 9.81 million shares in the technology group in the first three months of the year.
Returning to the UK, stories in various newspapers had the latest twist in the BHS saga.
Matalan founder John Hargreaves is said to be fronting a bid to rescue the collapsed retailer while Preston-based property tycoon Yousuf Bhailok has reportedly dropped a potential rescue bid.
Back to Brexit and the Guardian reports that business figures who signed an open letter supporting a UK departure from the EU include tax avoidance specialists, dozens of retirees and the publisher of a book about Ukip introduced by Nigel Farage.
The paper also says overdraft costs are set to fall as part of a regulatory overhaul of UK banks tipped to save customers £1bn over five years.
Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) is set to sell one of Europe’s biggest gold vaults to China’s ICBC bank, claimed the newly digital-only Independent.
The Indy also reckons Alphabet Inc-owned Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) could face a European Union fine of as much as €3bn for promoting its own shopping service in online searches.