Ex-employees accused tech boss Jones of sexual harassment and bullying

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Allegations of sexual misconduct against multi-millionaire tech entrepreneur Lawrence Jones first came to public light in October 2019.

The 55-year-old stepped down as CEO of Manchester-based web host provider UKFast after the Financial Times reported claims of sexual harassment and bullying from former members of staff.

Jones was alleged to have sexually assaulted two women he employed and was also accused of unwanted touching, verbal abuse and creating an atmosphere of fear in the workplace.

Other allegations were that he walked topless around the office and sat with female employees on his lap.

The FT said its findings came from interviews with more than 30 ex-employees.

In January 2019, a former employee had contacted police to say she had been raped and sexually assaulted by Jones.

A second woman followed soon after in coming forward to tell police she had been sexually assaulted while she worked at UKFast.

In May 2019, Jones and his wife, Gail, the UKFast co-founder, met Princess Anne when she visited the firm’s Hulme campus after it received the Princess Royal Training Award.

Less than three weeks later, Jones voluntarily attended an interview at Longsight police station with his lawyers and provided a prepared statement which denied the claims of the two women.

Jones and his wife severed links with UKFast in May 2020 when they sold their remaining shares to a private equity investor.

In January 2021, Jones, from Hale Barns, Greater Manchester, made his first appearance in court after he was charged with sexual offences against the two ex-employees.

His commercial success came from humble beginnings when he and his wife set up the company from a spare bedroom in September 1999.

UKFast went on to provide web services to more than 5,000 clients including the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office.

In 2015, Jones received an MBE for services to the digital economy and, by 2019, he employed about 500 staff across all his businesses.

He was photographed with the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, at the October 2019 Tory party conference – before the FT article was published.

The FT reported that Jones “mixed in high society” and had holidayed at Virgin founder Sir Richard Bronson’s Necker Island property in the Caribbean.

The newspaper described how a large slide ran from the top floor of UKFast’s headquarters to beanbags in the reception area below.

It added that beers were handed out from an office bar on Friday afternoons and that the company car park was seasonally transformed into a makeshift beach and an ice rink.

Staff were also invited to team-bonding events at his luxury properties in Verbier, Switzerland, and Snowdonia, Wales.

Jones denounced the FT’s depiction of his “dark side” and said all the allegations were untrue.

The father-of-four was cleared of raping and sexually assaulting the first complainant but convicted of one count of sexual assault against the second complainant.