Mike Ashley Vomited In Public Near fireplace

Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley would lie
under tables to take a nap at meetings
he found boring, a businessman suing
the tycoon has told a judge.



Investment banker Jeffrey Blue also
described, in evidence to the High Court,
what he described as "pub lock-in"
management sessions fuelled by drinks,
kebabs and fish and chips.




One such session saw Mr Ashley engage in
a drinking competition which ended with
him vomiting into a fireplace, the court
was told.




Mr Blue, who said he was working for
Merrill Lynch when he first met the
businessman in 2006, said Mr Ashley was
"like no other client that anyone at Merrill
Lynch had ever come across".



The investment banker is suing the
sportswear tycoon and Newcastle United
owner over a claim he did not stick to a
commercial agreement.



Mr Ashley disputes the claim, which
centres on an alleged conversation in a
London pub, the Horse & Groom, in 2013,
when Mr Blue says the businessman
promised to pay him £15m if he used his
expertise to increase Sports Direct's share
price to £8 a share.




Mr Blue says Mr Ashley paid only £1m.
Jeffrey Chapman QC, representing the
banker, said in a written outline of his
case:

"Mr Ashley's business practices fly in
the face of business orthodoxy.



"Mr Blue refers to Mr Ashley lying
underneath tables in meetings he found
boring to 'take a nap', playing a game of
spoof to resolve who ought to pay Merrill
Lynch's legal fees… (totalling £750,000)
and lavishly entertaining Sports Direct's
non-executive directors.




"Mr Ashley is not an ordinary businessman,
does not conduct business in an orthodox
way or in business-like environments."




In a witness statement, Mr Blue said he
had been a frequent visitor to Sports
Direct's head office in Derbyshire and had
attended senior management meetings at
a pub in Alfreton.




He said:

"These meetings were like no
other senior management meeting I had
ever attended in all my years of investment
banking experience.