Fresh from the £90m acquisition of the department store last Friday, Ashley said his ambition was to turn the 169-year-old chain into the “Harrods of the high street”.

In an interview with The Sun, he said he hoped to keep around 80% of the 59 department stores open, but question marks remain about the structure of the acquisition and what capacity the stores will trade in.

Following the news that it had bought the chain out of administration, Sports Direct swiftly appointed CBRE as sole adviser to the House of Fraser properties. This week senior director James Keany started to work on early proposals for the estate.