© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Tony Dancker, director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), speaks during the CBI conference in Birmingham, Britain, November 21, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
Written by David Milliken and William Schomberg
LONDON (Reuters) – The Confederation of British Industry said it has sacked its managing director Tony Dancker and fired three others after investigating complaints of workplace misconduct at a leading business group.
The CBI, one of Britain’s best-known business organisations, said it had appointed a former chief economist, Rain Newton-Smith, to become its new leader.
“The allegations made in recent weeks about the CBI have been devastating,” said a statement from the CBI on Tuesday.
“While investigations into a number of these continue, it is clear to all of us that there were serious failures in the way we acted as an organisation. We must do better, and we must be better.”
Danker stepped aside in March while the CBI conducted a review of his conduct.
A complaint was filed in January by a female CBI employee, the Guardian said, and further allegations were made by other employees later.
In a statement on Tuesday, Duncker said he was “truely sorry” for “inadvertently causing a number of his colleagues to feel uncomfortable”.
“I was shocked, however, to learn this morning that I had been removed from the CBI, instead of being invited to present my position as originally asserted. Many of the allegations against me have been misrepresented.”
The CBI, which represents the views of many of Britain’s biggest companies to the government and more broadly, has clashed in recent years with the government over Brexit policy.
Last week, she halted her public events after a series of other allegations – including one of rape at a staff party in 2019, as well as a separate sexual assault and reports of cocaine use – were reported in The Guardian.
A number of companies and the government have expressed concern about the revelations and whether they should continue to work with the lobby group. A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said ministers and senior officials would stop communicating until the investigation was completed.
The CBI said Duncker – who joined the organization in November 2020 – had not been the subject of more recent allegations, but that his behavior “did not live up to the standard expected of a director-general”.
Duncker said he was unaware of the other allegations until last week.
The CBI said three other employees have been suspended pending further investigations into a number of ongoing allegations.
“The CIA is coordinating with the police and has made clear its intention to cooperate fully with any police investigations,” the statement read.
Newton-Smith, who spent her early career as an economist at the Bank of England, left the CBI in March to join Barclays (LON:) where she is the Managing Director for Strategy, Policy, Sustainability, Corporate Governance and Environmental and Social Matters (ESG).
“I want CBI to be an organization that we can all be proud of,” she said.