Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has admitted that he paid employees of his sportswear retail giant, Sports Direct, below the minimum wage and also told MPs that he has discovered "issues" with working practices at the retailer as part of an internal review.
MPs questioned Ashley on Tuesday as part of an ongoing enquiry into working practices at Sports Direct's Shirebrook warehouse, including poor working conditions, security staff searching employees, the use of controversial zero-hours contracts and paying less than the minimum wage.
"I've discovered some issues and I've hopefully addressed some of those issues," Ashley told MPs at the enquiry. "Bottlenecks at security are the main issue."
The Sports Direct owner also described the company's internal review as a "work in progress."
Mr Ashley, sitting alongside public relations adviser Keith Bishop, was asked if employees were effectively paid less than the minimum wage, and answered: "On that specific point, for that specific bit of time, yes."
When asked whether it would be better if an independent organisation carried out a review of working conditions at Shirebrook, he said: "I can agree that in some ways I am not the right person, because I am not an expert on every area of employment, obviously. It is not what I do for a living."
Ashley added that Sports Direct can do a better job than the Unite union when it comes to looking after workers. When asked if that was a view shared by his employees, he said: "I would hope so."
Responding to concerns over health and safety, Mr Ashley said it was excessive that 110 ambulances were called to the warehouse between January 2013 and April 19 this year.
"Let us assume that every single call-out was needed," he said. "How are people getting injured at Sports Direct? You cannot have that number of serious incidents -- it is impossible.
"I was told that we were over-quick to pick up the phone for the ambulance service."
The tycoon pledged to implement a number of changes to working practices within 90 days, promising to write to MPs if the time frame needed to be extended, saying: "You're pushing against an open door."
The Newcastle United owner added that his review had not yet covered the issue of zero-hour contracts, but said that he agrees that some staff should be transferred to full-time contracts.
When it was put to him that some female employees had endured sexual harassment, Mr Ashley described the managers in question as "sexual predators" who need to be "dealt with".
"It 100 percent should not be going on. They're repugnant, they're disgusting," Ashley said. "What do you call it? Sexual... harassment? It's as simple as that fellas... not just fellas, girls. Sorry."
Mr Ashley also agreed that Sports Direct had become too big for him alone to manage and vowed to review the firm's corporate governance structure.
"I'm not going to do nothing when I hear stories like this," he said. "I can't look after every single thing, but I'm the guy who's responsible for its biggest successes and biggest failures, that's me."
Mr Ashley went on to reveal that he had hoped to buy British Home Stores, prior to its collapse last week.
"One hundred percent I wanted to buy BHS," he said. "It's a logical fit with Sports Direct because of the extreme value that Sports Direct is known for.
"I'm not a saint, but you could have made a success of that business."
However, he refused to answer questions on Sir Philip Green, who will be grilled by MPs next week over the demise of the department store chain.
Mr Ashley also appeared to agree to an independent review of his company's corporate governance structure.
MPs had earlier heard from the Unite union, who told the enquiry that Sports Direct are in talks with HMRC over back pay for staff who were paid less than the minimum wage.
Luke Primarolo, regional officer of Unite, also told MPs that a "culture of fear" pervaded at the warehouse, claiming that one Sports Direct employee was forced to give birth in a toilet.
The union warned of a "race to the bottom" in working practices, adding abuses were a real "danger to the economy".
Steve Turner, assistant general secretary of Unite, said conditions at the retail giant's warehouse in Derbyshire were more like a "workhouse" or "gulag".
Representatives from Transline and The Best Connection, employment agencies hired by Sports Direct to manage the warehouse and its staff, denied Unite's allegations, saying they "wholly misrepresent" conditions.