John Allan is to step down as chair of housebuilder Barratt Developments PLC (LSE:BDEV) following recent allegations of improper conduct while he was chair at Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO).
Grocery giant Tesco announced last week that Allan is to stand down as chair after its AGM on 16 June while Barratt said he would leave its board at the end of June.
Allan’s departure from both FTSE 100 companies follows allegations from four women about remarks and unwelcome contact first reported in an article in the Guardian.
Barratt said Allan’s departure was at the request of the board.
In a statement, the housebuilder said: “The board believes it is in the best interests of Barratt to accelerate the planned transition to the new chair of the board to prevent the ongoing impact of the allegations against John from becoming disruptive to the company."
“Barratt has not received any complaints about John Allan during his tenure at the company,” it added.
Caroline Silver, currently chair designate at Barratt, will now take over the role at the end of June rather than 6 September as previously scheduled.
Jock Lennox, Barratt’s senior independent director, said: "The board is grateful to John for his nine years of service to Barratt.”
Tesco said on Friday that Allan would not seek re-election at the forthcoming AGM.
The grocery chain added it had conducted a review of one of the incidents that allegedly happened at its previous annual meeting.
“This review has not identified any evidence or complaints in relation to John at the Tesco 2022 AGM or at all in his tenure as Tesco chair,” it subsequently said in a statement.
Even so, Tesco said it had decided to end Allan’s stint as chair, noting his period in office was due to end shortly
Byron Grote, senior independent director, 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.”
Three of the accusations relate to a period between 2018 and 2021, when Allan was the CBI's president for two years and also a vice president.
Allan has denied three of the alleged incidents and apologised for the remarks made in the fourth case.