The new boss of business organisation the CBI has said she is determined to win back the trust of its members and become the voice of UK business again, ahead of a crunch meeting on how it is dealing with a sexual harassment crisis.
The organisation is holding an emergency meeting on June 6 where it will ask members to vote on its future following revelations that more than a dozen women who worked at the trade body have claimed they were sexually harassed by colleagues, with two saying they were raped.
The CBI dismissed “a number of people” after the misconduct allegations came to light while former director-general Tony Danker was fired over unrelated issues, claiming that he had been made the “fall guy” for things that happened before his time at the organisation. New director-general Rain Newton-Smith was brought back to lead the organisation, having briefly left to join Barclays.
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Speaking to The Journal and BusinessLive, Ms Newton-Smith said that it was “really harrowing” to read the stories of staff members affected by sexual assault but that she wanted to work with the “brilliant people” at the CBI and restore a “strong business voice”.
Ms Newton-Smith said that the CBI had lost “dozens” of members, putting the organisation under financial strain. But she said it was trying to win companies back, and had to show it was doing the right thing on changing its internal culture to create a truly inclusive workplace where people felt they could speak up about any concerns.
She said that it had become clear there wasn’t an “alternative” business organisation with its breadth of membership and expertise, and that it wanted to survive the current crisis so that it could talk on issues such as net zero and the cost-of-living in the run-up to next year’s General Election.
She said: “It’s undoubtedly been a tough few weeks for me personally, but certainly for the organisation. I came back because I was determined to lead the organisation and because I recognise the need for a voice of business that can speak compellingly across regions and sectors.
“We have a tough challenge on our hands but I’m determined to do it. Already I’m seeing how businesses are really listening to the work that we’re doing on rebuilding that trust; we have a huge focus on people and culture and how we can learn the lessons from the crisis that we’ve been through. We need to earn the right to again be loud on some of the issues that are important to businesses.
“For the businesses I’ve spoken to, they recognise the need for that voice. We want to tackle some of the really big issues, whether we’re thinking about the role business can play in tackling climate change or holding the Government to account on how we deal with the cost-of-living crisis.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last month said “there’s no point engaging with the CBI” after a number of high-profile resignations, putting in doubt its ability to lobby Ministers on behalf of its members. But Ms Newton-Smith said that she hoped winning over its members for its response to the crisis would prove to the Government that it had to listen to the organisation again.
She said: “I’ve every confidence that if we’re able to go through our EGM on June 6 and show that we have the support of our members and get a vote of support, that door to Government will open. I worked with the Prime Minister when he was Chancellor during the pandemic and I’ve also worked very closely with the Labour Party and some of the members of the Shadow Cabinet on some of the big issues of the day.
“I have every confidence that those doors to Government and the Opposition will open if we can show that we are the voice of business across regions and nations, and that we have our members behind us. It’s important to remember that, yes, our work is about Westminster but it’s also about Metro mayors and devolved administrations, and our leaders in the regions have strong reputations.”
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