The former head of the CBI and current boss of Tesco faces further allegations of inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour.
John Allan, a veteran city figure and chairman of Barratt Developments, the homebuilder, allegedly touched bottom to a senior Tesco employee in June at the retailer’s annual general meeting, according to The Guardian.
Allan, 74, is also alleged to have touched a colleague’s bottom at the CBI’s annual dinner in May 2019 when he was the head of the trade lobby group.
It was reported last month by The Times that Alan was the subject of a separate complaint by a female CBI colleague about a comment that was “totally inappropriate, insulting and discriminatory.” He is alleged to have told a mid-ranking CBI director, shortly before Jeremy Corbyn made a speech as Labor leader at the CBI’s annual conference in November 2019: “This dress really does fit your personality.”
Alan was CBI chairman between 2018 and 2020 and then vice-chairman until October 2021. The lobbying group is in crisis after the government and some of Britain’s biggest companies cut ties last month following separate and more serious allegations by members of its sex work staff. Misbehavior and rape.
Alan allegedly made inappropriate remarks during the events in June 2022 and May 2019 as well as making a similar comment to another female CBI staff member in 2021. Some of the women were said to have been offended by the alleged actions and considered it. sexual harassment.
He denies all allegations, except for the comment he made in November 2019. A spokesperson for Allan said he was “shamed after making the comment in 2019 and immediately apologized. The person concerned agreed to close the matter and no further action was taken.” Regarding the other claims, they are simply not true.
However, Mr Allan asked Tesco and Fox Williams – who had been instructed by the CBI to conduct an investigation after various allegations – to investigate them. Fox Williams decided not to do so, and Tesco is unaware of and has not received any complaints about Mr Allan’s conduct either in AGM for 2022 or for the eight years he has been chairman of Tesco.”
Fox Williams has been contacted for comment, including whether the company will now investigate the allegations. CBI declined to comment.
Tesco, where Allan has been chairman since 2015, said his behavior had “never been the subject of complaint during his time as chairman of Tesco”.
A spokeswoman said: “At Tesco, we are committed to ensuring that all colleagues are respected and feel safe at work. The Tesco people policies apply to all colleagues, and all concerns or complaints about conduct are always taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. This is a serious allegation, and if If anyone has any concerns or information, we ask them to share it with us through any of our reporting channels including via our confidential protection line, so we can investigate.”
Alan led the CBI through the period when some of the most serious alleged incidents in recent weeks are said to have occurred. They include an allegation of rape at a summer CBI staff boat party on the River Thames in 2019, which the City of London Police are investigating.
Brian McBride, head of the CBI since last year and former chief executive of Amazon UK, said last month that “there have been serious failures in how we act as an organisation”. He apologized “to the victims of this organizational failure”.
After the comment in November 2019, the woman reported this to the Deputy Director General of the CBI at the event, who in turn raised the matter with Dame Caroline Fairbairn, then Director General.
It is understood that Fairbairn, 62, the first woman in the position, spoke to the manager at the event and then to Alan, deeming him “totally inappropriate, insulting and disrespectful”.
After speaking with Fairbairn, Alan offered to apologize to the manager, which he did.
“It was egregious, insensitive and insulting to say something stupid,” said a source familiar with the incident. The source added that the director believes the incident has been dealt with decisively.
Another source familiar with the incident said the comment was out of character for Alan and that they had “never seen any signs of this kind of behavior before”. Another former CBI employee said that Alan was a “known dinosaur” in the organization.
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