Documents filed at high court reveal that Sports Direct, prior to its rebrand to Frasers Group, came under scrutiny in Ireland, France and Finland over the tax arrangement, which saw the retail group pay all VAT on overseas sales to customers over a seven-year period.

The arrangement was facilitated through the set-up of a separate company called Barlin Delivery, which was run by Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley’s brother John, who is a computer scientist.