Our retail correspondent Laura Onita has returned from Sports Direct’s meeting today with fresh news from the empire of Ashley. She writes:

Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley is planning a £100m share giveaway to staff after renaming his firm and unveiling a jump in profits which sent shares rocketing 31pc.

Mr Ashley's proposal will be introduced by September 2020 if it gets shareholder support, and is likely to be seen as part of a charm offensive after the 55-year-old was heavily criticised over how Sports Direct treats its staff.

It came as the firm rebranded itself as Frasers and vowed to focus more on luxury products following a rescue of the House of Fraser department store in July.