CBI needs an outsider to lead it through crisis, says former director

theguardian.com:

The Confederation of British Industry needs an experienced outsider to lead it through its crisis, according to a former director, after the Guardian’s reports of complaints against senior figures over alleged sexual misconduct.

Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee who started his career as director of economic affairs at the business lobby group, said he was “very disappointed” by the scandal, which has left it battling for its future.

“A major shake-up at the senior levels of the organisation will be needed to sort out the current reputational problems that the CBI currently faces,” Sentance told the Times. He said the group needed “an experienced external business-fixer to come in and sort things out”.

Last week, the CBI, which represents 190,000 businesses, dismissed its director general, Tony Danker, who had previously stepped aside after separate allegations regarding his conduct, which were also revealed by the Guardian last month.

Danker is to be replaced by the CBI’s recently departed chief economist Rain Newton-Smith. She left in March after nearly nine years to join Barclays as a managing director overseeing strategy, policy and sustainability.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is the UK’s most prominent business lobbying organisation. It is a not-for-profit organisation founded by royal charter in 1965, after a merger of older employer bodies.  

It claims “unrivalled” access to government. It also claims to have the biggest number of policy specialists outside of Whitehall, the seat of the British government, in order to support its 190,000 business members, which are the chief source of its income. Its total income was £25m in 2021, of which £22m was from