19 May 2023 , 15:08
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Tesco's chairman has resigned after he faced allegations of "inappropriate" behaviour towards a female colleague.
John Allan, 74, was accused last week of touching a senior staff member's bottom at a shareholder meeting and a previous misdemeanour involving a staff at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Tesco said the allegations "risk becoming a distraction" but stressed it found "no findings of wrongdoing" against the boss, who has been in the role for eight years.
But it was confirmed today Mr Allan will step down at the company's shareholder meeting next month.
Tesco, which investigated the allegation, said today: "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."
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Tesco said Mr Allan guided the firm very efficiently through the Covid pandemic (Bloomberg via Getty Images)Board member Byron Grote said: "John has made a valuable contribution to Tesco during his eight years as chair.
"He has successfully led the board through the turnaround and Covid whilst helping to rebuild the business.
"While we have received no complaints about John's conduct and made no findings of wrongdoing, these allegations risk becoming a distraction to Tesco.
"On behalf of the board, I thank him for his substantial contribution to the business.
"We are well advanced in our search for a new chair and will make an announcement in due course."
The businessman faced allegations of 'inappropriate' behaviour recently (PA)Mr Allan, a dad of two, was previously president of the CBI, which has been rocked by multiple sexual misconduct allegations in recent months.
The CBI's director general and staff members at the trade body have been fired after more than a dozen women came forward alleging they had been the victims of bad behaviour.
Mr Allan denied three of the allegations against him and apologised for the fourth. One claim was to do with last year's annual general meeting (AGM).
Mr Grote will serve as interim chairman until someone can be found to do the job full time.
Mr Allan said he regretted having to stand down from the job following "utterly baseless" allegations against him, although he has apologised for one claim, while denying three others.
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There are more than 350,000 Tesco branches across the UK (Getty Images)Mr Allan 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."
Mr Allan shared his concern about rising energy prices last year.
He had told BBC's Sunday Morning: "In some ways the worst is still to come - because although food price inflation in Tesco last quarter was only 1%, we are impacted by rising energy prices. Our suppliers are impacted by rising energy prices.
“The likelihood is that inflation figure will rise. We’re doing all we can to offset it.”