Mike Ashley tells Boohoo to make him the boss

Mike Ashley’s fashion conglomerate has demanded the appointment of the retail tycoon as boss of Boohoo, where it is the largest shareholder, to fix the “leadership crisis” at the business.
Frasers Group has called for Boohoo to replace John Lyttle with Ashley in an open letter following news of a possible break-up of the company. Lyttle has announced his intention of stepping down as chief executive.
Ashley’s retail group owns 27 per cent of Boohoo and has warned the fast-fashion outlet “urgently needs to address the management of its business” owing to its “abysmal trading performance and share price collapse”. The FTSE 100 group said appointing Ashley to the top job would be “the best solution to Boohoo’s leadership crisis”.
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In the letter, Frasers said: “The company’s revenue for the six-month trading period ending 31 August 2024 is down around 36.5 per cent. We expect that gross profit will follow the declining trend of revenue, and when Boohoo announces its half-year results in full in November, gross profit will be down for the sixth consecutive reporting period.
“The board has presided over a long-term collapse in Boohoo’s share price, which has fallen over 29 per cent year-to-date, and 17 per cent in the last three months.”
The FTSE 100 company also accused Boohoo of failing to properly engage on its demands for a board refresh. Frasers said it had been subjected to “delay and ignore” tactics when trying to hold a meeting with Mahmud Kamani, the executive chairman.
The letter said: “We recognise stonewalling when we see it, and these tactics of ‘delay and ignore’ are no longer tolerable in the context of the continued value destruction that the board is overseeing at Boohoo.”
Boohoo announced a strategic review of options “to unlock and maximise shareholder value” last week, raising the prospect of a sale of brands such as PrettyLittleThing, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Warehouse and Wallis.
The review has also set the stage for a boardroom tussle between long-term rivals Ashley and Kamani, which has been brewing since Frasers started building a stake in Boohoo in June 2023.
In a statement, Boohoo said: “The Boohoo board is in the process of reviewing the content and validity of the requisitions with its advisers. A further announcement will be made in due course.”