Frasers wants its founder to be boss of the ailing fashion retailer. But Ashley isn’t ruling out being a bidder himself in any potential break-up

Who would be the better chief executive of a severely ailing online retailer? Candidate A isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but he does tend to deliver the goods: his 73%-owned retail business has defied doubters for a couple of decades, has adapted to the digital age and sits in the FTSE 100 index sporting a market value of £4.6bn.

Or would you prefer candidate B? This one is yet to be identified because the last bloke only resigned suddenly a week ago. But she or he would be chosen by a board that has overseen a collapse in the share price of 90% in the past five years, to the point where a former bright star of the UK retailing scene is worth just £375m.