John Allan will stand down as chair of Tesco after allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Allan, who has been chair of the UK’s biggest supermarket since 2015, will step down at the retailer’s annual general meeting (AGM) on 16 June.
The announcement came on Friday, 10 days after the Guardian reported that Allan allegedly touched the bottom of a senior member of Tesco staff in June 2022, at the company’s last AGM.
In a statement, Tesco said it had conducted an extensive review into the allegation relating to the annual meeting but had “not identified any evidence or complaints”
against Allan.
Byron Grote, the senior independent director at Tesco, said: “While we have received no complaints about John’s conduct and made no findings of wrongdoing, these allegations risk becoming a distraction to Tesco.”
Allan said the allegations were “utterly baseless” and that “I remain determined to prove my innocence”.
Four allegations about Allan emerged during the Guardian’s investigation into the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) – the UK’s foremost business lobbying group.
Allan was president of the organisation between 2018 and 2020 and then vice-president until October 2021.
He has denied three of the four claims made against him.
As well as the allegation relating to Tesco, it was also claimed he touched the bottom of a member of staff at the CBI during its annual dinner in May 2019, when he was the organisation’s president.
Sources also alleged that Allan, 74, made inappropriate remarks on those occasions as well as separate, similar comments to two other female members of CBI staff in November 2019 and in 2021 respectively.
Some of the women said they were offended by the alleged actions and considered his behaviour to be sexual harassment.
Allan has admitted making a comment about a CBI staffer’s appearance that she found to be offensive in 2019. Allan apologised for the remark after discussion with the group’s then director general, Carolyn Fairbairn.
In response to this incident, a spokesperson for Allan said: “Mr Allan was mortified after making the comment in 2019 and he immediately apologised.”
After Friday’s announcement by Tesco, Allan issued his own statement.
It said: “It is with regret that I am having to prematurely stand down from my position as chair of Tesco plc following the anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations made against me, as reported by the Guardian.
“These allegations are utterly baseless, as the internal procedures undertaken by Tesco prove. Tesco undertook an ‘extensive internal review’ which included inviting Tesco employees and ex-employees to come forward on an anonymous basis if they had concerns about my conduct.
“Tesco also conducted outreach to those who attended the meeting where the incident allegedly happened, and video footage of the meeting has also been reviewed. There is no evidence of any wrongdoing at that time or at any stage of my chairmanship at Tesco and I remain determined to prove my innocence.”
Tesco said in a statement to the stock market that Allan’s tenure as chair had been due to end shortly and that a search for his successor was initiated in recent months, with the search due to conclude shortly.
The company said it had not received any complaints about Allan’s conduct, either at the 2022 annual meeting or during his time as chair, and had not made any findings of wrongdoing.
The retailer said it had immediately launched an “extensive review” into the allegation about Allan’s conduct at the 2022 annual meeting. It said it had asked colleagues to come forward if they had any concerns regarding his behaviour, contacted attenders of the meeting and had also contacted employees who had since left the company.
Tesco also said it had reviewed video footage of the shareholder meeting, and had looked at records of internal complaints, including from its confidential whistleblowing service.
Grote thanked Allan on behalf of the board for his contribution to Tesco during his eight years as chair, adding that he had “successfully led the board through the turnaround and Covid while helping to rebuild the business.”
Grote, who is also the chair of the company’s audit committee, has been confirmed as interim chair by Tesco’s board, and will lead this year’s AGM. He will hold the role until a permanent chair is appointed.
