Tesco chairman John Allan faces four allegations of inappropriate conduct, three of which he denies and one for which he has apologised “unreservedly”
Barratt Developments plc has confirmed that John Allan has been asked to step down as chair after a slew of misconduct allegations.
John Allan, a former president of business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry(CBI), has been on Barratt’s board for nine years and chair of retailer Tesco since 2015.
The allegations date back to 2019
The Guardian reported in early May that John Allan had been accused of inappropriate physical contact at the Tesco annual general meeting to a senior member of Tesco staff in 2022 as well as a similar incident at the CBI’s annual dinner in May 2019.
Sources allege that Allan, 74, made inappropriate remarks on these occasions as well as in separate incidents to two other female members of CBI staff in November 2019 and in 2021.
Some of the women said they were offended by the alleged actions and considered the alleged actions to be sexual harassment.
John Allan admitted to the incident reported in 2019, where he commented on a female CBI staff member’s appearance at a November conference and apologised to the woman in question.
John Allan has fervently denied the three other allegations
In a statement, Mr Allan said: “It is with regret that at the request of the board, I am stepping down as chairman of Barratt Developments Plc as of June 30 2023, ahead of finishing my tenure in early September as planned.
“My early departure from Barratt is a result of the anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations made against me, as reported in the Guardian, which I vehemently deny.”
Caroline Silver will take over roles at Tesco and Barratt
Barratt said Mr Allan would be replaced by non-executive director and chairwoman-designate Caroline Silver. Silver was also appointed as a non-executive director on the board of Tesco in October.
The construction firm emphasised that it has not received any complaints about Mr Allan during his time at the company.
But it said it was “in the best interests of Barratt to accelerate the planned transition to the new chairman of the board to prevent the ongoing impact of the allegations against John from becoming disruptive to the company”.
You can read Barratt’s statement on the departure of John Allan here.
