Here’s a video clip of Mike Ashley’s search today -- for anyone who missed the fun and games earlier:

The Press Association have a good take on the Sports Direct tour - and the moment Mike Ashley stunned reporters (and perhaps staff too) by pulling out that wad of £50s:

Mike Ashley was sorry - this he wanted to make clear.

As he conducted a tour of his Sports Direct empire, he drove home the message that he was not ducking any responsibility when it came to the retailer’s problems.

Sports Direct had grown too big too quickly and its Shirebrook warehouse was not built for the age of internet shopping, he said. It was a point he made repeatedly.

He was happy to see headlines saying he was apologetic about the retailer’s problems, but not that he was making excuses, he added.

But his sense of regret at the controversies swirling around Sports Direct did not dull his sense of mischief.

As he weaved his way through the cavernous halls, he said: “I know size is no excuse and that is not a joke so please don’t any of the reporters say I am referring to anything else because I am not.”

Despite journalists and angry investors having been a thorn in his side over recent months, he appeared to enjoy showing them the site where working practices have generated so much controversy.

A swarm of investors and journalists dressed in high-visibility jackets were shown the canteen, the vast areas for picking stock and the security checkpoint.

The retail tycoon also took it upon himself to demonstrate a Sports Direct security check - a previous source of complaints by some staff.

Pulling off his jacket, he then emptied his pockets, pulling out a wad of fifty pound notes and tossing them into a security tray.

When someone pointed out it was a “lot of cash”, he replied: “Yes I’ve been to the casino,” before adding: “Now don’t please write that.”

Commentators have been arguing for years that British business should learn from their German rivals, and put workers in the boardroom.

Prime minister Theresa May even expressed support for the idea, putting it higher on the political agenda. So Sports Direct could be ahead of a trend.

But Roger Bull, head of the Employment Law team at independent UK law firm, Burges Salmon LLP, suggests getting the idea into law will be hard:

The appointment by Sports Direct of an employee to the Board is an astute move, no doubt intended to demonstrate that company’s willingness to embrace change and encourage employee participation.

“However, the Government has a far tougher task if it wants to legislate on employee Board appointments given the many questions that would need addressing, including the size of the company to whom such rules would apply, the number of employee directors, the nature and status of the role of employee director, the nature of the Board on which they would sit, the selection/election process, confidentiality, trade union involvement and pay etc.”

Sports Direct’s shares have endured a bad day, closing down almost 9%.

That’s primarily due to this morning’s admission that profits will probably fall 20% this year, from £380m to £300m.

But investors are also unimpressed that Keith Hellawell is sticking around as chairman, despite today’s historic revolt from the City.

Sky News’s Charlotte Lomas has spotted a fresh innovation at Sports Direct -- a list of its best stock pickers.

The top worker stands to win a £25 voucher -- all part of the new regime more carrot, less stick.

Earlier, my colleague Sarah Butler tweeted more interesting comments from Ashley from the warehouse tour:

Here’s the full quote from Sacha Sadan, Director of Corporate Governance at Legal & General Investment Management, calling for Hellawell to quit Sports Direct.

“Following Sports Direct’s recent report on its own shortcomings, as well as the large independent shareholder vote against the chairman’s re-election, it is clear the Board needs to enact significant change in order to earn back shareholder trust.

“At absolute minimum, we believe the current chairman should step down immediately and an external, independent appointment made to oversee management and protect the interests of all stakeholders – including employees, suppliers, and shareholders.”

The Trade Union Share Owners group has hailed the rebellion against Keith Hellawell today.

It believes the revolt by independent investors is a record - and one which other firms should learn from.

TUSO Chair Janet Williamson says:

“Today’s shareholder uprising should act as a cautionary tale to other employers. Sports Direct’s reputation has been dragged through the mud and its share price has taken a hammering.

“The company must now commit to holding a genuinely independent investigation into how the company treats its workers. Without wholesale changes to working conditions, Sports Direct risks finding itself back in the dock.

“Hopefully this vote will usher in a new era of investors working with unions to challenge bad employment practices.”

Steve Turner, Unite general secretary, has responded to the shareholder revolt against Keith Hellawell today:

“Investors have sent a robust message to the Sports Direct board that it has much more to do to reform and regain confidence.

As well as corporate governance Sports Direct must urgently work with Unite to put in place a framework which moves the thousands of temporary agency workers at Shirebrook on to secure, permanent direct contracts. We remain committed to work constructively with Sports Direct to help restore dignity and respect to the work place.”

City firm Legal & General aren’t convinced by Ashley and Hellawell’s arguments.

They want the chairman to quit now, having lost the support of independent investors today.

Q: Final question, how do you feel about Iain Wright MP claiming that you and Sir Philip Green are ‘two peas in a pod’?

No, I’m far better looking than him, Ashley shoots back, before heading back into the HQ.

Back to Mike Ashley....

Q: Why are you so determined to keep Keith Hellawell as chairman when the majority of independent shareholders want him to leave?

Ashley says Keith has experience of working with him, which will help with the turnaround plan at Sports Direct.

Keith knows my strengths, and my weaknesses, and we’re beginning to learn some of the company’s weaknesses, together.

Ashley’s voice almost breaks at this point:

So, we’re going to fix it. Please give us 12 months to fix it. What difference is 12 months?

We’ve done some good work in 90 days - lets do some fantastic work in 12 months.

If we fail, Ashley concludes, I’ll be stood here in a year’s time, saying “I’m sorry, I got it wrong again. When is this ever going to end?”

City investors do recognise my integrity and my experience, Hellawell insists.

But if they don’t have a change of heart over the next 12 months, I will leave.

Q: But surely your position is untenable, after today’s protest vote.

Hellawell denies it:

My position is not untenable - the majority of shareholders in this company support me.

I am here to prove to the majority of independent shareholders who don’t support me that I making a valuable contribution to this company, and over the next 12 months I’ll be judged on that contribution.

Chairman Keith Hellawell is taking questions now.

Q: Were you surprised by the scale of the rebellion against you today?

Hellawell says it’s disappointing - he needs to prove that changes have been made in a year’s time.

Q: Why didn’t you realise there were problems at Sports Direct two years ago when a women gave birth in the toilets?

Hellawell claims this incident has been misreported. It’s an “extreme example” and doesn’t represent Sports Direct as a company.

Q: Your shareholders want you to go - why won’t you?

That’s not true, Hellawell replies - the majority shareholder (Ashley) still backs me.

Q: But your shareholders don’t believe you are competent.

Hellawell says he will prove his competence over the next 12 months. He also claims that it’s “not true” that there have been problems for years and years and years

Q: They’ve been widely reported on the BBC, on ITV, SKy News, on the Guardian - if you’d read a newspaper or listened to a broadcast, you’d have been aware of them.

We are aware of the issues,and we are tackling them, Hellawell says.

Here’s a taste of our latest news story about Ashley’s clash with Unite:

Mike Ashley, Sports Direct’s founder and majority shareholder, has blamed the Unite union for the company’s problems in an angry outburst at the retailer’s annual shareholder meeting.

In a packed meeting of more than 120 people at the head office in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, Ashley was challenged by the union’s assistant general secretary, Steve Turner, over a pledge to offer shop-floor staff 12-hour contracts instead of zero hours.

Turner said he would not be surprised if few workers took up the offer as most were working much longer hours every week.

Ashley told Turner that the 12-hour promise did not mean Sports Direct would reduce hours for those who worked longer.

He said: “This is probably your fault we are in this situation because we can’t talk to you in an open manner.

“I’ve made a commitment to make a difference and I’m trying so don’t pull me down. Don’t do the whole showboating thing. It will make me turn away and the only people who suffer are people that work at Sports Direct.

More here:

Here’s a better photo of the protests outside Sports Direct’s HQ:

Mike Ashley appears to have regained his good spirits:

Maybe he enjoyed showing his warehouse off to the journalists today.

The Unite union are holding a demonstration at Shirebrook today.

They’re urging Ashley to offer permanent contracts to the thousands of agency workers who keep his warehouse running.

You can see them in the background, here:

Unite have played a major role in exposing the problems at Sports Direct.

Back in June, its officials told MPs about the poor conditions at Shirebrook, such as 110 ambulance callouts to the warehouse - including five for birth and miscarriage-related reasons.

If you can’t get the video of Mike Ashley producing his wad of £50 notes to play, try clicking here.

Mike Ashley says that every Sports Direct worker will get a vote on the new ‘employee representative’ who will join the board.

That’s from my colleague Sarah Butler, who is touring the site now:

For most journalists, this is their first taste of life inside the Shirebrook warehouse.

Mike Ashley has admitted that mistakes were made - but he’s also hoping to prove the difficulty in controlling such a huge site.

The BBC’s Joe Miller explains:

And The Times’s Deirdre Hipwell has captured one of the many lines of products, waiting to be collected by the army of workers.

Mike Ashley has stuffed his £50 notes away, and started discussing the issue of how staff were paid below the minimum wage.

He says he only discovered the problems with searches last December, after the Guardian exposed them.

Ashley hasn’t forgotten that report, saying:

“He’s not my favourite person, the Guardian man. Where is he?”

Still here. For now.....

My colleague Simon Goodley has managed to send a photo from the scrum around Mike Ashley:

Ashley seems to have cheered up a bit, following his attack at Unite during the AGM. But will it last?....

Mike Ashley is posing for photos and chatting to journalists as the tour gets underway.

He says that he (like very other worker) used to be searched when he left the site.

Now the process has been revised, so that some workers are chosen randomly, he explains.

The process has also been streamlined, so that workers don’t spend unpaid time being searched, dragging down their wages to below minimum levels [not a worry for billionaire Mike Ashley, of course].

Sports Direct’s investors have now finished voting on today’s resolutions, so we’ll have the results in a few hours.

The entire room have now donned fluorescent jackets and headed out for a tour of the Shirebrook site.

The AGM is now over. Perhaps Mike Ashley’s bad mood trumped his promise to say until midnight to answer questions.

Investors are now voting on the various resolutions on whether to reappoint directors, and approve the pay report.

Journalists are now heading out of the room, ready to experience the new Open Tour of Shirebrook.

They’re being serenaded out to “Don’t Stop Believin”, by Journey:

Campaigners for fairer pay are already planning to return to Shirebook in 2017 to mark Ashley’s homework....

I’m a little surprised that Mike Ashley lashed out at Unite, to be honest.

Back in June, he was surprisingly open and engaging with MPs - a strategy that seemed to wrongfoot the BIS committee. That strategy might have worked well today too.

My colleague Sarah Butler has a theory - that Ashley expected more praise, and less criticism, following the pledges made yesterday.

Back to Sports Direct’s pay policies....and Lisa Narthan of ShareAction UK asks if it might pay more than the minimum wage to staff.

Hellawell replies that SPD wants to show leadership in this issue [having now resolved the issue, exposed by the Guardian, of paying less than the statutory minimum because of its security checks]

Non-executive director Claire Jenkins has jumped to Ashley’s defence, saying that Sports Direct has the “most open” board meetings of any company she’s worked at.

And she denies that yesterday’s report (written by Mike Ashley’s lawyers) wasn’t independent:

Aviva, a significant shareholder, asks if there’s any point discussing Keith Hellawell’s position - as the company declined his resignation last weekend.

Hellawell says “yes” (reminder, he’s already promised to leave in 2017 if he loses a vote of confidence next year)

Mike Ashley doesn’t seem to be enjoying the AGM very much:

Although Mike Ashley has lost his grip on his (Sports Direct-branded?) rag, his chairman is calmer.

Keith Hellawell says the time for excuses is over, and that Sports Direct has reached a watershed moment.

Grace Hetherington of ShareAction UK says it’s quite a contrast:

Here’s the key quote from Ashley’s outburst, after Unite questioned the value of his offer of permanent contracts to store staff:

What about the investigation into how Sports Direct paid staff less than the minimum wage?

Hellawell says the inquiry into warehouse staff has been finished (and staff are being paid the money they’re owed).

But he also says that there are always conversations with the tax authorities -- perhaps over whether staff in its stores have been underpaid?...

Mike Ashley insists he has nothing to hide, and promises (or threatens) to say until midnight to answer everyone’s questions.

But now we have Dave Singleton, an independent non-executive chairman, answering questions about operational problems at the company.

Sports Direct are now taking questions from the floor, and facing a flurry of criticism and accusations.

Another shareholder asks why Sports Direct hasn’t operated a staff forum, or appraisals.

Keith Hellawell admits that “the system isn’t good enough” and promises to improve it.

Chief executive Dave Forsey doesn’t seem to share Mike Ashley’s perkiness.

Forsey admits that Sports Direct needs to engage better with shareholders, and strengthen its corporate communications arm. That’s on top of improving conditions for workers.

Workers will be pleased to hear that a nurse and a welfare officer are (finally) being hired. Back in June, MPs heard that one Sports Direct worker actually went into labour on site, because she was afraid to take time off.

Onto the scandalous conditions at Shirebrook.

Hellawell admits that Sports Direct failed its staff -- and singles out the HR operation for particular criticism.

He also confirms that the Six Strikes policy, which penalised staff for offences such as ‘excessive toilet breaks’ and ‘chatting’ has been axed.

Hellawell says Sports Direct’s directors genuinely want a worker to join them on the board (a move Ashley announced last night)

He also defends using a company owner by Mike Ashley’s brother, John, to deliver Sports Direct stock overseas -- a deal which one investor said “doesn’t look very good”....

Onto corporate governance issues - always a sticky subject for a company where the found owns 55% of the shares.

Chairman Hellawell says the search for new independent directors is ‘ongoing’.... so no news of fresh heavyweight expertise to help steer the company.

It sounds like Keith Hellawell is giving himself a 12 month window to win back the support of Sports Direct’s investors.

He says Sports Direct must become “even more transparent and over-zealous” in the way it reports information (an area where the company has traditionally struggled).

But there’s no update on whether the company will appoint a permanent finance chief - a role which ‘acting’ CFO Matt Pearson has been conducting for more than two years!

Chairman Keith Hellawell gets the AGM underway.

He says he is committed to working with the parliamentary Business committee to implement Sports Direct’s turnaround plan.

But he would step down next year if shareholders vote against him.

Ho ho ho

Sports Direct’s founder is in good spirits, apparently, as he arrives for his grilling from shareholders and other critics:

Keith Hellawell, Sports Direct’s chairman (despite his offer to quit) will address investors first:

If you’re just tuning in, here’s our story about how Hellawell tried to resign over the serious problems exposed at Sports Direct - but was told to stay on.

Simon Neville of Buzzfeed tweets:

A low shareholder turnout isn’t too unusual, though. Large City investors will have cast their votes a few weeks ago, so don’t actually have to vote in person.

While we wait for the AGM to start, here’s some comment from City lawyer Nick Elwell- Sutton of Clyde & Co:

“While Sports Direct’s decision to elect a worker to its board is designed may be a response to the report, the direction of travel is now turning towards worker representation at board level as is already common on the continent.

This can be seen in TFL appointing a union representative to its board and the Prime Minister’s policy statement in July that workers should be present on the boards of big business. Quite how successful this will be remains to be seen.”

True, it does. But the conditions at Sports Direct, which the Guardian exposed last December suggest it must help Mike Ashley turn the situation around.

Shareholders and reporters are shuffling into their seats in the Auditorium* at Unit D of Sports Direct’s HQ.

(* - basically, a room in a warehouse)

City chairmen are meant to be the ultimate power in the boardroom, with the power to sack a mere CEO if required.

But Keith Hellawell’s failed resignation attempt shows that Mike Ashley does things differently at Sports Direct.

My colleague Graham Ruddick tweets:

That also shows why Sports Direct might struggle to find a high-calibre replacement....

My colleague Sarah Butler will be covering the AGM action for us - here’s the scene outside Sports Direct’s HQ:

Lisa Nathan of campaign group ShareAction is also there:

This is from The Times’s Deirdre Hipwell:

The Sports Direct AGM kicks off (literally and metaphorically) in around 50 minutes, at 11am BST.

According to the schedule, the board will spend 45 minutes presenting their report to shareholders, and the ‘interested parties’ who are also welcome to attend.

A 30-minute question-and-answer session will follow -- although I’m not sure that will be enough time for all the issues to be raised.

Then the first tour of the Shirebrook warehouse will begin, followed (after a brief lunch) by the presentation (which you, dear readers, can see online here).

MA = founder Mike Ashley;

DF = Dave Forsey, the CEO, who was blamed for Sports Direct’s mistakes in the review published yesteday.

Boom! Another Sports Direct investor has announced it will vote against the board at today’s AGM.

The Telegraph’s Ashley Armstrong sums up the morning....

Sports Direct’s shares are still being hammered in the stock market, and are currently down almost 10%.

Investors aren’t impressed by its warning of falling profits and chairman’s Hellawell’s failed attempt to resign.

Analyst Joshua Raymond of XTB.com explains:

“Investors rapidly sold out of Sports Direct shares as the UK market opened after a double whammy of bad news this morning.

First and foremost, the retailer expects profits to fall by 20%, with underlying earnings expected around £300m, marking a fall of £81m from a year ago. And secondly the fact the firm rejected Chairman Dr Keith Hellawell’s resignation. Shareholders have long felt that the firm is held too tightly under Mike Ashley’s grip and Chairman Hellawell has been unable to wield the sufficient power needed to make the radical changes required. So news of this rejection ultimately raises the feeling amongst larger shareholders such as Legal and General that Sports Direct will continue to operate with a Chairman that lacks sufficient influence.”

Here are some more slides from this afternoon’s presentation, showing how Sports Direct will implement its turnaround plan:

The prospect of Sports Direct becoming the new Selfridges has caused some mirth on social media...

Despite Sports Direct’s efforts to turn over a new leaf, it is still employing Mike Ashley’s daughter’s boyfriend to run its property arm.

The company says today that:

As previously disclosed, our Property team will continue to be led by Michael Murray and any remuneration will be decided at the Board’s discretion.

Murray, who recently pulled off a £108m property deal on Oxford Street, could potentially earn 25% of the value created by his team. Some commentators have pointed out that he doesn’t have immense experience, as he’s only in his mid-twenties.....

Mike Ashley insists that, despite much City chatter, he isn’t planning to take Sports Direct private again.

The company says:

Further to the statement made in the Company’s preliminary results announcement on 7 July 2016, and in response to repeated speculation, Mike Ashley has confirmed to the Board that it remains the case that he has no current intention to take the Company private, and has indicated his willingness for the Company to confirm this statement publicly.

Our retail writer Sarah Butler explains why Sports Direct is less profitable....

Veteran retail analyst Nick Bubb is alarmed by Sports Direct’s new profit forecasts:

This chart shows how Sports Direct shares have taken an early dive:

Sports Direct has also revealed that its profits will probably fall by 20% this year, in a statement to the City ahead of this morning’s AGM.

It now expects to post underlying earnings of around £300m this financial year, down from £381m in 2015-16.

But that is also determined on achieving group sales growth of at least 9%, and only a small decline in profit margins.