The sportswear giant, controlled by corporate governance refusenik Mike Ashley, was bottom of the FTSE 350 pile when marked on its social, ethical and environmental conduct. It scored bottom marks for poor boardroom discipline and the twin failing of having a controlling shareholder and insufficient non-executive director representation.

But of even greater concern was the lack of rigour in reporting risks to a business model reliant on inexpensive manufacturing processes in high-risk emerging markets. 'We are committed to improving our investor relations and our score on these measures next year,' said Bentley. 'In some cases we have not done what we should have done.'