Following claims of inappropriate behavior, Tesco chairman John Allan is stepping down.

Mr Allan, a former head of the CBI business lobbying group, has categorically disputed three of the four allegations leveled against him.

However, Byron Grote, a board member who will temporarily replace Mr Allan as chairman, stated, “These allegations risk becoming a distraction to Tesco.”

Tesco stated that “no findings of wrongdoing” had been made.

Mr. Allan will leave Tesco in June after serving in the position for eight years.

“It is with regret that I am having to step down from my position as chair of Tesco as a result of the anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations made against me, as reported by the Guardian,” he stated.

According to the Guardian, Mr Allan touched a Tesco employee at the retail chain’s annual shareholder meeting last year.

It was also claimed that Mr Allan “grabbed” an employee in 2019 at a CBI event. He earlier stated that these charges were “completely false.”

Tesco’s CEO denies unwanted touching.
It is also stated that in 2021, he made a remark regarding a CBI employee’s attire and bottom. Mr. Allan stated that he has no recollection of this episode.

He has, however, admitted to making a remark to a female CBI employee regarding a garment that suited her physique in late 2019.

Mr. Allan stated that he was “mortified after making the comment” and apologized immediately.

He served as CBI president from 2018 to 2020 and as vice president for an extra year.

Following allegations that he inappropriately touched a Tesco employee, the grocery chain announced that a “extensive review of the allegation” had begun.