Leon Kamhi
Ahead of the Sports Direct AGM tomorrow, Leon Kamhi, Head of Responsibility at Hermes Investment Management, assesses the company’s progress and highlights areas for improvement. “We welcome a number of positive changes that have taken place since the 2016 AGM. This includes the appointment of Mike Ashley as CEO, Jon Kempster as a permanent CFO, two independent directors and a Workers’ Representative who will attend board meetings.However, we are greatly concerned about the lack of one to one engagement the company has had with shareholders following the publication and implementation of the board’s Engagement Statement to investors, analysts and the media. It is our view that the absence of face to face engagement falls short of best practice and creates a multitude of missed opportunities to build positive and constructive relationships with interested third party minority investors.