traded as lse spd industry retailing founded 1982 ; 34 years ago 1982 headquarters port sunlight wirral england key people keith hellawell chairman mike ashley founder and chief executive products sporting goods revenue 2.832 billion 2015 1 operating income 295.6 million 2015 1 profit 241.4 million 2015 1 number of employees 17 207 2015 1 subsidiaries sportsdirect.com slazenger lillywhites usc everlast dunlop lonsdale website www.sportsdirectplc.com sports direct international plc is a british retailing group . established in 1982 by mike ashley the company is the united kingdom s largest sports goods retailer and operates roughly 670 stores worldwide . 2 the company owns a large number of sporting brands and trades predominantly under the sportsdirect.com brand . other retailers owned by the company include usc and lillywhites . the company operates under low margins . 3 sporting and fashion brands owned include donnay slazenger firetrap dunlop in most markets everlast kangol karrimor and lonsdale . mike ashley has continued to hold a majority stake in the business and his holding has been 61.7 percent since october 2013 . 4 it is listed on the london stock exchange and it is a constituent of the ftse 250 index . contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 dunlop acquisition 1.3 going public 1.4 corporate finance and mergers 1.5 employee conditions and legal breaches 2 operations 3 brands 3.1 retail outlet brands 3.1.1 current 3.1.2 defunct inactive 3.2 clothing and equipment brands 3.3 previously owned brands 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit early history edit sports direct in the former lillywhite s shop on the headrow in leeds the company was founded by mike ashley in 1982 as a single store in maidenhead trading under the name of mike ashley sports . 5 in 1984 preston sports shop was opened in london and by 1992 the company had 12 stores . 5 1995 96 saw the stores change to sports soccer along with the re location of head office and warehouse to a 100 000 sq. foot unit in dunstable . 5 the number of retail stores had now increased to 50 along with the acquisition of the donnay tennis and golf brand . 5 ashley incorporated the business in 1999 . 6 by 2000 the business had 80 stores and had formed a joint venture in belgium with 22 stores trading as disport . 5 the lillywhites chain of 10 stores and the lonsdale brand were acquired in 2002 and by 2003 the number of retail stores had increased to 150 . 5 6 in 2005 the company began a major rebrand of the stores changing the fascias to sports world . 5 dunlop acquisition edit in february 2004 the company acquired dunlop slazenger for around 40m which included the dunlop slazenger and carlton brands . 7 this was followed by the acquisitions of outdoor gear manufacturer karrimor in march for a reported 5 million . 8 in 2006 he acquired kangol for an estimated 12 million . 9 most of these brands were bought from distressed sellers . after looking at a takeover 10 sports direct took a 9 million stake and signed a lucrative long term deal in august 2005 with troubled brand umbro 11 which was subsequently sold to nike . the brands themselves are an increasingly important part of the business and sports direct made 10m from selling the intellectual property rights to the slazenger golf brand to arch rival jjb in 2005 . 6 going public edit in late november 2006 a number of business newspapers reported that ashley was looking at an ipo of sports world international . he hired merrill lynch who valued the group at up to 2.5 bn ahead of a possible flotation on the london stock exchange . 12 the group debuted on the exchange on 27 february 2007 . 13 corporate finance and mergers edit in december 2006 it was revealed that sports direct had built up a 29.4 % stake in blacks leisure group the owner of millets . 14 in may 2007 it was also revealed that ashley had held talks with john hargreaves founder of matalan on both taking a 25 % stake in the troubled retail business and installing mezzanine floors in larger matalan stores on which sportsdirect.com outlets could be operated . 15 in june 2007 the company acquired everlast for 84 million . in july 2008 it was disclosed that sports direct also held a 12.3 % holding in the john david group parent of jd sports . 16 the stake is currently 11.9 % of jd sports as of november 2013 . sports direct formerly held 5 % of amer sports . 17 ashley likes to park his tanks on peoples lawns said a banker . 12 it was announced on 1 october 2012 that sports direct had purchased rival retailer jjb s brand name website 20 stores and all of their stock in a deal for approximately 24m . the deal saved around 550 jobs . 18 19 20 21 in february 2013 after fashion retailer republic went into administration sports direct bought 116 republic stores the brand name and the company s head office from the administrator for an undisclosed sum . 22 in july 2013 more than 2 000 full time staff were awarded around 70 000 each under the company s bonus share scheme . 23 on 13 january 2014 sports direct bought 4.6 % of debenhams shares . the stock market purchase of 56.8 million shares worth around 46m was made without the prior knowledge of the debenhams board . sports direct stated at the time it intends to be a supportive share holder . the debenhams board responded by stating they are open minded with regard to exploring operational opportunities to improve its performance . 24 25 sports direct sold its shares on 16 january 2014 although they took out an option to buy further shares up to a total of 6.6 % . 26 employee conditions and legal breaches edit in july 2013 it was revealed that around 90 % of the company s employees are employed on zero hours contracts an issue that some of their current and former employees have taken the company to court over . 27 from january 2013 to december 2014 76 ambulances or paramedic cars were sent to the postcode for sports direct s distribution centre according to a freedom of information request by the bbc.the ambulance service received three calls about women experiencing pregnancy difficulties including one who gave birth in the site s toilets . 28 a channel 4 dispatches documentary branded sports direct a sweatshop with working conditions compared to the victorian era and bosses were accused of punishing employees if they talk . 29 labour mp john mann claimed english speakers were snubbed for positions with the chain despite 3 000 people working there . he said british workers living in his constituency near sports direct s 800 000 square foot shirebrook warehouse were snubbed for jobs at the derbyshire site . the warehouse is called the gulag among local residents . 30 in october 2015 the chief executive of sports direct david forsey was charged with a criminal offence for consultation failures over usc staff who only had 15 minutes notice of redundancy . 31 32 in december 2015 an investigation by the guardian found that the company fines staff for late clocking on does not award overtime for late clocking off relies on zero hour contracts and regularly makes staff wait unpaid for a security check at the end of shifts . a union official suggested that these practices were illegal as they brought workers earnings below the minimum wage . the company responded by saying there were unspecified inaccuracies in the reports . 33 a representative from the pressure group shareaction claimed that workers are jeopardising their health for fear of being dismissed while another shareholder said the company s reputation as an employer was atrocious . 34 late in december 2015 sports direct announced a 15 pence per hour increase for staff currently receiving less than minimum wage taking them above minimum wage 35 the annual cost of this was said in the announcement to be 10 million gbp ; however it was immediately noted that 0.15 p 37.5 hours 19 000 staff 52 weeks 5 557 500 5.5 million this and other factors resulted in many including unite calling it a pr stunt . 36 workers on zero hours contracts are not included in the rise and neither are those already paid more than minimum wage management supervisors etc. therefore the 19 000 staff above is actually substantially fewer . 37 in august 2016 sports direct admitted breaking the law and will disburse unlawfully withheld wages totalling about 1m to the affected workers . 38 39 operations edit a branch of sports direct in bradford the group has over 470 uk stores including the chains sportsdirect.com sports world prior to 2008 lillywhites field & trek and usc . the group employs around 11 000 people in the uk and at stores in ireland france the netherlands belgium estonia latvia luxembourg hungary slovenia slovakia the czech republic austria germany spain poland cyprus portugal and iceland . sports direct branded stores exist under a franchising agreement in south africa and the middle east . in 2006 it overtook jjb sports as the uk s largest sportswear retailer . 40 brands edit retail outlet brands edit current edit cyclesdirect.com field & trek firetrap gelert heatons lillywhites megavalue.com 41 sherunsheruns sportsdirect.com internet and high street retail . sweatshop usc european golf defunct inactive edit gilesports merged into sportsdirect.com hargreaves sports merged into sportsdirect.com jjb sports republic merged into usc sports soccer merged into sportsdirect.com sports world merged into sportsdirect.com streetwise sports merged into sportsdirect.com clothing and equipment brands edit airwalk british knights campri carlton donnay dunlop everlast firetrap gelert golddigga hot tuna clothing kangol karrimor la gear lonsdale miss fiori muddyfox nevica no fear outside north america slazenger sondico soulcal usa pro voodoo dolls previously owned brands edit bike clearance original shoe company sold to jjb sports in december 2007 . 42 umbro sold to nike in 2007 see also edit dunlop brands references edit a b c d annual report 2015 pdf . sports direct . retrieved 15 april 2016 . finch julia 28 february 2007 . flotation makes sports direct founder a billionaire . the guardian . london . retrieved 7 november 2007 . millar michael 12 september 2013 . how sports direct beat the opposition . bbc news . retrieved 10 february 2014 . titcomb james 24 october 2013 . ashley sells 106m in sports direct shares . the daily telegraph . london . retrieved 10 february 2014 . a b c d e f g history . sports direct . 2012 . archived from the original on 5 february 2012 . retrieved 1 october 2016 via wayback machine . a b c revealed uk s first sports kit billionaire . the times . 9 april 2006 . retrieved 23 may 2010 . osborne alistair 5 february 2004 . game set and match for dunlop slazenger . the daily telegraph . london . retrieved 23 september 2008 . osborne alistair 3 march 2004 . ashley slips karrimor brand in his rucksack . the daily telegraph . london . butler sarah 5 december 2006 . sports world owner sees right fit for kangol hats . the times . retrieved 29 october 2015 . kollewe julia 8 august 2005 . sports world tycoon mulls bid for umbro . the independent . london . retrieved 23 may 2010 . sports world tycoon mulls bid for umbro . the times . 17 july 2005 . retrieved 7 november 2007 . subscription required help . a b personal finance how to grow your wealth and spend less money . the daily telegraph . retrieved 21 march 2015 . sports direct timeline . the guardian