Mike Ashley underlines plan for House of Fraser as 'Harrods of the high street'

It comes a month after the £90 million takeover of House of Fraser by tracksuit tycoon Mike Ashley and his Sports Direct empire.

House of Fraser went bust with debts of nearly £1 billion and was bought out of administration by Mr Ashley with promises to create "the Harrods of the high street".

Despite threats to close stores because of clashes with 'greedy' landlords, since the takeover Mr Ashley's team has only confirmed that seven of its 59 stores will stay open, including Telford.

But there has been no word on the others, including Beatties in Wolverhampton and the branches in Birmingham and Shrewsbury.

This week the Sports Direct chief executive repeated his plan, saying: "Our strategy to transform House of Fraser into the Harrods of the high street will be a game changer."

It came in a brief statement before yesterday's Sports Direct annual shareholder's meeting in London, alongside a trading update that the chain expects to achieve an improvement in earnings of between five and 15 per cent, excluding the acquisition of House of Fraser.

Meanwhile, Sports Direct chairman Keith Hellawell has stepped down from the company, ending a controversial nine-year tenure in the role.

Mr Hellawell retired with immediate effect following yesterday's annual meeting and has been replaced by non-executive director David Daly.