London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

CBI chief sets out its 'most grievous error' in sexual misconduct scandal

CBI chief sets out its 'most grievous error' in sexual misconduct scandal

The organisation's president admits a string of mistakes at the UK's largest employers' group, saying it had placed resolution ahead of people in sexual harassment cases.

The president of the scandal-hit CBI has admitted he does not know if the business lobby group can win back trust while setting out a series of shortcomings relating to the victims of sexual misconduct.

Brian McBride used an open letter to members to confirm that "a number of people" had been dismissed amid a continuing police investigation and admitted staff had been failed on many fronts over many years by the leadership.

He set out its response to the findings of a review, conducted by a law firm, into its handling of the affair and governance at the CBI.

Lawyers at Fox Williams said there were a few instances that the senior leadership had awareness of allegations made prior to their publication by the Guardian newspaper.

These included, the law firm found, a member of the CBI executive committee being aware of a complaint about the behaviour of a board member, which was raised with him directly.

Brian McBride has been president of the CBI for 10 months


No other board member was aware of the complaint at the time, it stated.

Mr McBride admitted the CBI's "most grievous" error was "trying to find resolution in sexual harassment cases when we should have removed those offenders from our business".

He wrote: "We didn't put in place sufficient preventative measures to protect our people from those seeking to cause harm and we didn't react properly when issues arose as a result.

"We failed to filter out culturally toxic people during the hiring process.

"We failed to conduct proper cultural onboarding of staff. Some of our managers were promoted too quickly without the necessary prior and ongoing training to protect our cultural values, and to properly react when those values were violated.

"In assessing performance, we paid more attention to competence than to behaviour. Our HR function was not represented at board level, which reduced escalation paths to senior levels of the company when these were most needed."

The law firm made several recommendations, including the appointment of a chief people officer to the board.

The CBI suspended all membership and policy activity on Friday after dozens of major members either suspended collaboration with the group, or quit.

The trigger for the exodus was an allegation of rape made by a second female worker, published that day by the Guardian.

Those to quit the CBI included NatWest, Aviva and the John Lewis Partnership - all led by women.

The extent of the challenges facing the CBI - and damage done to its reputation - has led commentators to question whether it has a future as a standalone force for UK businesses.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt piled more pressure on the beleaguered lobby group on Monday when he declared there was "no point" in engaging with the CBI during the crisis, adding that business needed a strong, representative voice at the table.

The chief executive of pub company Adnams, Andy Wood, told Sky News the CBI brand was "probably damaged beyond repair".

He said of the open letter: "I think a number of the things that are talked about in there should have been in place anyway. And I would have expected that of a representative organisation that is speaking for some of the largest and most well-known companies in the UK.

"So whilst I welcome the letter and the contrition, I'm not sure the, you know, zero tolerance of bullying and harassment, training leaders in recognising bullying and harassment and appointing a chief people officer, go quite far enough and not quite the root and branch reform that was talked about earlier in the week."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×