The resigning chairman of British supermarket giant Tesco, John Allan, accused in the press of sexual assault, will also step down as chairman of Barratt's board, the property developer announced Tuesday. John Allan "will leave office ... as of June 30," Barratt said in a statement. Tesco had announced last week the departure of its leader, judging that the allegations against him, and which he largely disputes, "risk disrupting" the company. His departure from Tesco will be effective on June 16. Barratt's board also says it wants to avoid "the impact of the allegations against John disrupting the company," and accelerates the transition already underway at its head. The new president Caroline Silver, who was supposed to take office on September 6, will finally take over on June 30.
However, "Barratt has not received any complaints about John Allan during his tenure with the company," the company said in its statement, as Tesco did last week. "My early departure from Barratt is the result of anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations made against me" and published in The Guardian newspaper, "which I vehemently deny," he said Tuesday in a statement published in the British press. The Guardian reported earlier this month on accusations that John Allan, 74, touched the buttocks of a Tesco executive in June 2022 at the group's general meeting. He is also accused of touching the buttocks of an employee of the CBI employers' confederation at the organisation's annual dinner in May 2019, when he was its president. Finally, The Guardian claimed that John Allan, who chaired the CBI employers' confederation in 2018 and 2019, made "inappropriate comments during these and similar events to two other CBI employees in November 2019 and 2021 respectively".
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Some of these women "said they were hurt by these alleged gestures and words and consider this behavior as sexual harassment," according to the daily. John Allan immediately denied all the accusations against him except for comments about an IWC employee in 2019. Barratt Developments lost 0.56% to 498.20 pence on Tuesday shortly after the opening of the London Stock Exchange. The resignations come as the CBI last month sacked its former boss Tony Danker for "inappropriate conduct at work". The CBI is also rocked by two rape accusations and other accusations of sexual harassment against several officials, allegations that have shaken the British business community.