Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Sports Direct and Argos

Sports Direct faces opposition over attempts to get director on Findel board

A third institutional shareholder in Findel is set to block Mike Ashley-owned Sports Direct’s attempts to get a director on the Kitbag owner’s board by voting against the proposal.

River & Mercantile, which has a shareholding of 5.7% in Findel, has given an irrevocable undertaking to oppose Sports Direct’s plans to appoint Ben Gardener to Findel’s board.

Findel’s executive chairman David Sudgen has revealed in a letter to investors that the sportswear retailer tried unsuccessfully to make Gardener Findel’s chief executive when a vacancy was created by Roger Siddle stepping down in June.

Sudgen said: "It is not appropriate to appoint a Sports Direct nominee director to the board given Sports Direct's commercial interests in the company's business, in particular Express Gifts, and other conflicts of interests between the company and Sports Direct.”

Argos apologises to shoppers over delayed Black Friday orders

Argos has been hit with consumer complaints about delayed or cancelled deliveries, forcing the retailer to apologise via its Facebook page.

Shoppers reported their orders were delayed while many complained they could not get through on the phone to track their packages. Some claimed to have spent long hours on its customer service line and waiting at home for deliveries that never arrived.

An Argos spokeswoman said the majority of the Fast Track same-day delivery were made, with a further 10% being offered alternative delivery slots.

Argos said: “We apologise where customers have experienced a problem with a home delivery and we are working through all individual cases as a priority. This is the busiest time of year for all retailers and, despite our best efforts, occasionally we don’t achieve the high standards we set ourselves and we are really sorry.

“We are also very sorry if any customer has tried to contact us unsuccessfully. We are bringing in more people to help us deal with customer enquiries and will respond to every query as soon as we can.”