By Jessica Frank-Keyes
The new boss of the CBI has pledged to “rebuild and reimagine” the crisis-hit organisation and “win back trust” as the group continues to deal with an ongoing sexual misconduct scandal.
Rain Newton-Smith, the new director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), today apologised to the women who made allegations of sexual harassment, assault and rape.
Writing on Twitter, she said she wanted to express “how profoundly sorry I am for how our organisation let you down”, as she took over at the under-pressure lobby group.
It comes after more than a dozen women who worked for the CBI told the Guardian they had been victims of sexual harassment. Two women alleged they had been raped.
She said: “You will have heard about the crisis that has shocked and saddened us all at the CBI. I want to recognise the courage of the women who came forward and say how profoundly sorry I am for how our organisation let you down.”
She added: “We know there is so much to do to win back the trust of our members, our colleagues and wider society.
“But I believe in the work of the CBI and our people, and I am determined to rebuild and reimagine our organisation to regain that trust.”
The new director-general faces a battle to reform the group after many questioned the wisdom of appointing a CBI insider to the top job.
Newton-Smith officially joined from Barclays where she had been managing director for strategy and policy, sustainability and ESG for the past month. Before then she had served as the CBI’s chief economist for close to nine years.
She replaced former director-general Tony Danker who was fired over separate claims of workplace misconduct. He later hit out at the CBI, saying he had been made into a “fall guy”.
Major companies including Aviva, O2, Tesco and John Lewis have since walked away from the organisation, and the CBI has since suspended all its policy and membership activities.
In a letter to members on Monday, president Brian McBride promised the organisation would reform, with changes set to be discussed in June at a membership meeting.
The post New CBI boss determined to rebuild group and ‘win back trust’ after sexual misconduct scandal appeared first on CityAM.
