Claims billionaire businessman held a company meeting in the pub where he drank 12 pints and ‘vomited into the fireplace’

IS this the worst business meeting ever? A CEO held riotous business catch ups in a pubs where hard drinking was the norm, a court has heard.

Owner of Sports Direct and Newcastle United, Mike Ashley arrives at the High Court in central London to defend himself against a lawsuit filed by a former business associate. Picture: AFP.

A BILLIONAIRE retail entrepreneur conducted regular business meetings in pubs that involved serious amounts of drinking and included one occasion where he sank 12 beers and vomited into a fireplace, a UK court has heard.

Even when at the office, the CEO would allegedly take “naps” under the boardroom table if he was uninterested in the meeting.

The allegations were heard at a court case in London. Former employee Jeffrey Blue has accused Mike Ashley, who runs UK sporting retailer Sports Direct, of reneging on a GBP15 million ($25m) deal agreed on in a pub, the BBC reported.

The pair met at investment bank Merrill Lynch.

A court heard that Mr Ashley — a billionaire who also owns Newcastle United soccer club — regularly held company meetings in pubs.

The heavy drinking sessions were held to encourage senior staff to “speak more freely”, it was claimed. They would often begin mid-evening and end between 1-3am.

Mr Blue is suing Mr Ashley over a claimed agreement made at just such a meeting in 2013 at the Horse and Groom pub in Central London.

He claims Mr Ashley agreed to pay him millions if he could help double the firm’s share price. That duly happened the very next year.

However, Mr Blue said he only received GBP1 million. Mr Ashley denies the claim.

“These meetings were like no other senior management meeting I had ever attended in all my years of investment banking experience,” Mr Blue said.

A UK branch of retailer Sports Direct whose CEO is in the dock. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images.

Fish and chips and kebabs would be delivered after the pub’s usual closing time, Mr Blue claimed.

“On one such evening, in front of his senior management team, Mr Ashley challenged a young Polish analyst in my team, Pawel Pawlowski, to a drinking competition.

“The pair drank pints of lager, with vodka ‘chasers’ between each pint.

“The first to leave the bar area for whatever reason was declared the loser.

“After approximately 12 pints and chasers Pawel apologised profusely and had to excuse himself,” said Mr Blue.

“Mr Ashley then vomited into the fireplace located in the centre of the bar, to huge applause from his senior management team.”

“Mr Ashley was like no other client that anyone at Merrill Lynch had ever come across,” he said describing how even outside the pub he had an unconventional approach to every day business events.

“By way of example, his ability to express boredom and frustration during client meetings knew no limits, including various episodes where he would lie underneath meeting room tables to ‘have a nap’,” he claimed.

Mr Ashley’s legal counsel said it was an “opportunistic try-on,” reported The Guardian, and the notion that Mr Ashley had made such a valuable agreement during a drinking session at the pub was “remarkable”.

The hearing continues.