Tony Danker claims he was ‘shocked’ by CBI dismissal after conduct complaints – business live

Labour’s shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said developments at the CBI were “incredibly concerning”, PA Media reports.

Responding to the sacking of Tony Danker, the head of the business organisation, Labour’s shadow chancellor told broadcasters during a visit to Brighton:

“Obviously what is happening at the CBI is incredibly concerning and it’s important that these reviews are able to take their course.

“Labour, like the Government, have cut our ties and are not currently doing any engagement with the CBI whilst these inquiries are ongoing.”

Meetings between ministers and the Confederation of British Industry remain paused while the organisation continues its investigation into misconduct allegations, Downing Street has said.

The dismissal of CBI chief Tony Danker will not end the move by ministers and officials to cancel engagements with the organisation, a Number 10 spokesman told reporters.

The spokesman said:

“His departure is a matter for the CBI, but we continue to expect any allegations to be taken seriously and for appropriate action to be taken in response.”

“While the CBI continues to investigate we will pause engagement by ministers and senior officials with the CBI.”

The government suspended its relationship with the Confederation of British Industry last week, after the Guardian revealed multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by the lobby group’s staff.

As well as launching “a root-and-branch review” of its culture, governance and processes, the CBI is to create a new position of Chief People Officer. They will sit on its executive committee and report directly to the CBI’s board on all matters of workplace conduct and culture.

The CBI HR director, Lauren Adams, will fill the role on an interim basis while a “wide-ranging external recruitment process” is conducted.

The CBI’s board added this morning that:

The current independent and confidential channel outside the CBI for people to come forward with concerns and complaints about workplace conduct will be made permanent.

We also recognise the enormous strain this experience has placed on all our people and will continue to offer support to anyone who needs it.

The Financial Times reports that a former female CBI staffer who had previously raised a complaint over an inappropriate comment about her appearance by a senior CBI figure, welcomed the appointment of the new director-general to replace Tony Danker.

She said:

“The board finally found its guts. Rain Newton-Smith will have the confidence of the staff and the members who know her to be on the right side of sexual misconduct issues.”

Newton-Smith, the CBI’s former chief economist for over eight years, spent her early career as an economist at the Bank of England, and then Oxford Economics. She left the CBI in March to join Barclays as managing director for Strategy and Policy, Sustainability and ESG.

Danker: shocked by dismissed from the CBI

Elizabeth Gardiner, CEO at UK Whistleblowing charity Protect, says the CBI’s new director-general, Rain Newton-Smith, has an opportunity to address and change the organisation’s whistleblowing procedures.

Gardiner explains:

What CBI should be doing is reviewing its current arrangements, regular training of managers on how to be good recipients of bad news, and checking that staff are aware of and confident in the processes.

Whistleblowers provide employers a gift of information – an early warning that something is wrong. Failure to listen can lead to harm to individuals, organisations and the public interest.

Confidence among small US firms has dipped, as the inflation continues to worry business owners.

The US small business confidence index produced by NFIB (the National Federation of Independent Business) has fallen by 0.8 points to 90.1 in March, from 90.9.

This is the 15th month running that the index has been below its long-term average of 90%.

NFIB says twenty-four percent of owners reported inflation as their single most important business problem, down four points from last month.

The ratio of small business owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months remain at a net negative 47%.

NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg says:

“Small business owners are cynical about future economic conditions.

Hiring plans fell to their lowest level since May 2020, but strong consumer spending has kept Main Street alive and supported strong labor demand.”

Over in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the situation on the currency market with Russia’s central bank chief and finance minister later on Tuesday, the Kremlin says.

The meeting comes as the Russian rouble dropped near a one-year low against the US dollar and the euro.

The rouble has lost almost 1% today to around 82.2 to the dollar, having last week hit its lowest level since March 2022.

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the rouble slumped to 120/$, but then recovered as capital controls were imposed to prop up the currency.

KKR buys stake in communications firm FGS Global

Here’s an explanation, published last weekend, about the allegations of misconduct by senior managers at the Confederation of British Industry:

The allegations have led some CBI members to consider whether they should leave the lobbying group:

Last week the Uk government suspended its relationship with the CBI, while the investigation into these fresh allegations was conducted.

Central banks will probably start cutting interest rates soon, predicts Professor Costas Milas, of the Management School at the University of Liverpool.

He tells us:

IMF predictions that Central Banks will cut interest rates soon will most likely materialize sooner than the Fund expects.

Why? The very latest movements in the Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York) which predicts inflation movements quite well (as I explain here) indicate that inflation pressures are receding extremely fast.

In fact, supply chain pressures have collapsed! This suggests to me that Central Banks will be “forced” to cut interest rates quite soon.

Back to economics… and investor morale in the euro zone has improved this month.

Research institute Sentix’s gauge of current conditions in the eurozone has hit its highest level in over a year, rising to -8.7 points for April after dipping to -11.1 in March.

However, Sentix’s economic expectations index remained at -13.0.

Sentix says its latest data is “better, but still not good”, and shows that the Eurozone economy continues to recover at the beginning of April.

They explain:

“There is no doubt that the euro zone economy has weathered the winter months better than many feared in the fall.

Full story: CBI dismisses director general Tony Danker after conduct complaints

Joanna Partridge

The CBI’s plight is a warning to other UK organisations, and an opportunity to look at their own internal culture, writes journalist and broadcaster Josie Cox today.

She says the allegations of misconduct at the business lobbying group are another reminder that wherever there is money there is power… and that “where there is power, abuse – in some form – is frequently still rife”.

Cox explains:

Despite ostensible efforts by some of Britain’s biggest companies to create equal opportunities and appropriate representation for all genders and races within the workplace, businesses remain stubbornly skewed.

They’re predominantly led by white men and blighted by the pay gap and the authority gap, in which women find it more difficult to be taken seriously at work.

As a function of these chasms, troubling power dynamics allow for cultures of sexism and, in some cases, toxic masculinity to prevail.

More here:

Brian McBride, CBI President, says:

Rain is well-known and highly respected at the CBI, and by its membership. She is the right leader for the organisation, possessing deep knowledge of the challenges facing businesses who are trying to grow in these challenging economic times.

I have every confidence that she will provide the clear-sighted leadership that the CBI and UK business needs.”

Newton-Smith pledges to lead CBI through ‘challenging time’