Barratt, the UK’s biggest housebuilder, has said its chairman John Allan will step down earlier than expected to prevent allegations of misconduct against him, which he denies, from becoming “disruptive” to the company
Allan, who is the former chairman of under-fire lobby group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), will leave his role at the FTSE-100 firm at the end of June, three months earlier than planned. He has been Barratt’s chairman for eight and a half years.
It comes after allegations of Allan’s inappropriate behavior towards women, reported by the guardian.
The alleged incidents relate to his previous role at the CBI and a complaint involving a senior staff member at Tesco, where he is also chairman. Tesco announced last week that it will be leaving its role at the supermarket giant next month.
Allan has denied three of the allegations and apologized for a fourth incident in which he admitted making a comment about the appearance of a female CBI staff member.
Barratt said today that he had received no complaints about Allan during his tenure at the company.
In a filing today, the company said: “The board believes it is in Barratt’s best interests to expedite the planned transition to the new chairman of the board to avoid the continued impact of the allegations against John becoming disruptive to the ‘company.”
Jock Lennox, senior independent director at Barratt, said: “The board is grateful to John for his nine years of service to Barratt. He leaves the company in a strong financial and operational position, continuing to perform well in challenging market conditions “.
In a statement informed by the FTAllan said: “My early departure from Barratt is the result of anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations made against me, as reported in the guardian which I vehemently deny”.
Investment banking veteran Caroline Silver takes over as chairman of Barratt, having been announced as Allan’s replacement earlier this year.
Silver, previously chairman of consumer goods giant PZ Cussons, will also join the housebuilder’s remuneration committee and nominations committee. She also sits on the Tesco board as a non-executive director, having been appointed last October.
