Sports Direct is facing parliamentary demands for explanations after a group of members of Parliament turned up unannounced at its head office and warehouse in Shirebrook, and alleged that an attempt was made to record a private discussion in one of the group's meeting rooms. Ian Wright, head of the parliamentary committee that has been investigating working conditions at Sports Direct, issued an open letter to Mike Ashley, majority shareholder of Sports Direct, in which he said that the alleged attempt had eroded trust and demanded an explanation. The allegation is that, as six MPs from the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee sat down for private meeting, a Sports Direct employee brought in a tray of sandwiches and planted a recording device under a seat near the refreshments. Wright writes that MPs want to know “how and why the camera came to be placed in the room, who authorised its placing and what steps you have taken as a result.” Sports Direct issued a statement saying it “did not authorise or have any knowledge of the possible recording device”, and added that its “veracity is yet to be determined.” The retailer's board added that employees had expressed positive views on the company during the MPs' tour, as well as dissatisfaction about the way the company has been portrayed by the committee and the media.

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