Corporate Britain Abandons CBI Following Second Rape Claim

Katie Linsell, Sabah Meddings, Thomas Seal and Laura Benitez
·3 min read

(Bloomberg) -- A swathe of major UK companies, ranging from banks to supermarkets, have resigned from the Confederation of British Industry as the lobby group fights for survival following a number of allegations of sexual assault among its staff.

Most Read from Bloomberg

BT Group Plc, NatWest Group Plc, and John Lewis Partnership Plc were among the household names to quit the group on Friday after the Guardian newspaper published claims from a second woman who said she was raped by colleagues at the CBI.

Aviva Plc was the first large company to publicly end its membership, adding that the CBI was no longer able to represent businesses “in light of the very serious allegations,” while a spokesperson for Virgin Media O2 said it had resigned as “the way the situation has been handled is not representative of business in Britain.”

John Lewis Partnership Plc, which includes supermarket Waitrose, also terminated its membership, as did car manufacturer BMW AG.

The CBI is one of the UK’s best-known lobby groups, with a strong record of influencing government policy. It claims to speak for 190,000 companies in the UK which it also represents at events across the world.

The group depends on annual membership fees, which reached £22 million ($27 million) before the scandal.

Boat Party

The scandal began last month when CBI boss Tony Danker stepped aside pending an investigation into alleged inappropriate behavior toward his colleagues. The organization subsequently faced separate allegations of sexual assault said to have occurred prior to Danker’s reign, including from a woman who said she was raped during a CBI boat party on the Thames. Danker was fired last week.

Read More: Sacked CBI Boss Danker Says He’s the Fall Guy After Sex Scandal

The CBI said the latest allegations were “abhorrent,” and its “hearts go out to any women who have been victims of the behavior described.”

Brian McBride, the CBI’s president, said it was liaising with police. However, he said the group was not previously aware of the latest rape claim and added that “the CBI does not recognize many of the most serious elements of the Guardian story relating to harassment.”

The CBI said it was anticipating a further report into sexual misconduct in its workplace from the law firm Fox Williams later Friday, and would provide an update next week. Its new boss, Rain Newton-Smith, is due to start on Monday. She left the CBI last month to join Barclays Plc but has quickly returned into the role of director general in an attempt to save the organization.

Read More: Scandal at CBI Plunges UK Business Lobby Into Existential Crisis

Last week, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association said it had canceled its membership. The Association of British Insurers said Friday that it had also left the group.

Audit firm EY said it had left the CBI with immediate effect. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said “the CBI is currently unable to do its job,” adding that it had suspended all activity with the group, in a statement emailed to Bloomberg News.

A number of companies including National Grid Plc, Shell Plc, supermarkets Asda and Lidl have also paused engagement, with the Grid and Lidl confirming they were reviewing their membership. Lloyds Banking Group Plc said it would not renew its membership.

--With assistance from Eamon Akil Farhat, Ali Asad Zulfiqar and Tom Metcalf.

(Updates with more companies leaving the CBI.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.