Mike Ashley has appointed his youngest daughter, Matilda Ashley, as a director of Mash Holdings, the corporate via which he controls his substantial stakes in Frasers Group and different ventures.
This transfer underscores the rising affect of household ties within the billionaire’s enterprise operations.
In accordance with current filings with Corporations Home, 27-year-old Matilda Ashley has taken on this vital function inside Mash Holdings, which performs a central half in overseeing Ashley’s in depth retail and property pursuits. The appointment follows her current resignation as director of her magnificence enterprise, Double Take, which Frasers Group reportedly acquired for £1 final 12 months with out informing its shareholders.
Double Take, launched by Matilda in 2015, owns SportFX, a cosmetics model accessible in Sports activities Direct shops. The enterprise weathered the pandemic with monetary assist from Mash Holdings, which is believed to personal the rights to SportFX’s clothes, footwear, and sports activities gear strains. Mike Ashley had beforehand dedicated to backing the model financially for the “foreseeable future.”
This newest household appointment might entice consideration within the Metropolis, the place issues over company governance and nepotism have surfaced. The Sunday Occasions just lately highlighted that Matilda’s boyfriend, David Al-Mudallal, serves because the Chief Working Officer of Frasers Group and was appointed to its board, making him one of many youngest administrators in a FTSE 100 firm. Michael Murray, who turned CEO of Frasers in 2022 and is married to Anna Ashley, the elder daughter of Mike Ashley, additionally holds a distinguished place inside the group.
The intertwining of household and enterprise pursuits in Ashley’s empire has drawn scrutiny prior to now. In 2016, Sports activities Direct confronted criticism from shareholders after it was revealed that an organization owned by Ashley’s brother was paid to deal with worldwide deliveries, a relationship that was not initially disclosed within the annual report.
Frasers Group, which began as a single store in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in 1982, has grown right into a retail large with over 1,500 shops throughout 20 international locations. The group contains well-known excessive avenue names resembling Home of Fraser, Sports activities Direct, Flannels, Evans Cycles, and Jack Wills. Though Mike Ashley stepped down from the board in 2022, he retains a 73% possession stake and holds a robust consultancy function inside the firm.