CBI boss looks to future after year of scrutiny for business leaders’ behaviour
BP’s Bernard Looney stood down after not being ‘fully transparent’ in his disclosures to the board, while Crispin Odey is facing an FCA investigation.
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Your support makes all the difference.It was a year to forget for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), whose credibility took a hit when dozens of its members started to leave in the wake of allegations against former staff members.
The lobby group was cast into turmoil as The Guardian reported allegations from several women, including against its then boss.
But new chief executive Rain Newton-Smith said she had her eye on the future, saying the group could deliver “unparalleled business insight and policy analysis”, and that it had ended the year “doing what we do best”.
It came in a year where BP boss Bernard Looney’s former relationships and allegations of serious misconduct against one of London’s biggest hedge fund managers led to big-name resignations.
The trouble for the CBI started with a story in The Guardian which alleged that then-boss Tony Danker had made unwanted contact with a woman who worked for the business group.
Mr Danker apologised and agreed to step aside while the group investigated his behaviour, which his accuser considered to be sexual harassment.
But weeks later, things went from bad to worse for the group. The newspaper wrote another article, this time with much more serious allegations.
It said that more than a dozen women had approached its reporters, saying they were the victims of sexual misconduct. One of the women said she had been raped at a staff party.
The CBI sacked Mr Danker and three other members of staff in the wake of the second story. But then came the third article.
In it, another woman said she had been raped by two colleagues at the CBI.
That opened the floodgates. Just hours later, some of the most high profile of the 190,000 businesses the CBI claimed to represent had suspended or stopped their membership in the group.
By the end of that Friday, the CBI said it would “suspend all policy and membership activity” after losing dozens of members.
After a tough period for the organisation, it was great to end the year doing what we do best: bringing businesses together and influencing policy at the highest levels of government
The business group has since tried to mend bridges. It brought in new director general Ms Newton-Smith in April, who had left the role as the group’s chief economist and taken a new role at Barclays just a month before.
Now Ms Newton-Smith wants to talk about what the group can do for businesses, and the wins it sees in the autumn statement.
“After a tough period for the organisation, it was great to end the year doing what we do best: bringing businesses together and influencing policy at the highest levels of government,” she said.
“With a general election set for next year and growth not where we want it to be, the CBI will head into 2024 with renewed purpose: to be a catalyst between business and government to deliver sustainable growth for the benefit of society.
“Having completed our governance review and implemented the cultural changes outlined in our prospectus for change, the organisation is well set to deliver unparalleled business insight and policy analysis that can shape the country’s economic story in the years to come.”
It was not the only behaviour-linked scandal to hit the City over the year.
In September, BP boss Mr Looney resigned from the company in a shock announcement. The business said that he had failed to disclose past relationships with colleagues when asked by the board.
He had been at the company for decades, but spent less than four years in the top post.
The company said he had disclosed some past relationships with colleagues during a review sparked by an anonymous source in 2022.
But after further claims surfaced, Mr Looney was forced to admit he had not been “fully transparent” in his disclosures to the board. BP is still looking for a new chief executive.
Elsewhere, the allegations against hedge fund manager Crispin Odey were much more serious.
He had been the subject of allegations of sexual impropriety for years. In 2021 he had been acquitted of an alleged indecent assault which dated back to 1998.
But until this year he had continued to gain success at Odey Asset Management, the hedge fund which bears his name.
In June, the Financial Times and Tortoise Media said they had spoken to 13 women who claimed Mr Odey had abused or harassed them. Some of them had worked for the investment company. Mr Odey said at the time that the allegations were “rubbish”.
Just a day later, Odey Asset Management announced that Mr Odey would be leaving the company, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) later opened an investigation to see if he was “fit and proper” to work in financial services.
In October, Odey Asset Management decided to shut down entirely.