Tesco’s chair John Allan is facing claims that he acted in an inappropriate and unprofessional manner from four female employees, according to the Guardian.
Allan is alleged to have touched the bottom of a senior Tesco staff member at the company’s annual general meeting in June 2022.
He is also accused of doing the same to another female member of staff at under-pressure business lobbying group, the CBI’s (Confederation of British Industry) annual dinner in May 2019, when he was the firm’s president.
Allan is also accused of making inappropriate remarks on both occasions in addition to similar comments to two other female members of CBI staff in November 2019 and in 2021.
A number of the woman have said they were offended by the language allegedly used by Allan, and consider it to come under sexual harassment in the workplace.
Allan has denied all but one of the allegations, which accuses him of making a comment about a CBI worker’s appearance in 2019.
A spokesperson for Allan said the other claims are “simply untrue”.
Meanwhile spokesperson for Tesco added: “John Allan’s conduct has never been the subject of a complaint during his tenure as chair of Tesco.”
The allegations have surfaced after an investigation by the Guardian into the CBI.
Allan was president of the organisation between 2018 and 2020 and then vice-president until October 2021.
He has been chair of Tesco, the UK’s biggest grocer, since 2015 and is one of the most senior men in UK business, often speaking on behalf of industry in the media.
One woman who shared an allegation about Allan said: “Leading a company or challenging its leadership means you have to hold up standards across all areas of governance, including sexual harassment. He fell short of what the role is meant to mean.”
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Another said: “It might seem a small thing to some people, but I felt humiliated and undermined by his actions.”
The spokesperson for Allan said: “Mr Allan was mortified after making the comment in 2019 and he immediately apologised.
“The person concerned agreed the matter was closed and no further action was taken. Regarding the other claims, they are simply untrue.
“Even so, Mr Allan requested that Tesco and Fox Williams – who were instructed by the CBI to conduct an investigation following various allegations – investigate them.
“Fox Williams decided not to, and Tesco are not aware of and have not received any complaints about Mr Allan’s conduct either at the 2022 AGM or over the eight years that he has been chair of Tesco.”
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