Tesco chair John Allan to step down in June amid misconduct allegations

Tesco announced on Friday that chair John Allan will step down at the company’s annual general meeting on 16 June, as the supermarket chain said recent allegations of misconduct "risk becoming a distraction".

Allan was appointed in 2015 and his tenure as chair was due to end shortly. The succession planning process had already been initiated over recent months and is expected to conclude "in the near future", Tesco said.

In recent weeks, four allegations have been made in the media about Allan’s personal conduct.

"Three of these allegations are vigorously denied by John, for the other John unreservedly apologised for the comment he made," Tesco said.

Senior independent director Byron Grote, who has been appointed interim chair, said: "While we have received no complaints about John's conduct and made no findings of wrongdoing, these allegations risk becoming a distraction to Tesco.

"On behalf of the board, I thank him for his substantial contribution to the business. We are well advanced in our search for a new chair and will make an announcement in due course."

Earlier this month, the Guardian reported that four women had made claims of misconduct against Allan. He was alleged to have touched the bottom of a senior member of Tesco staff in June 2022, at the company’s AGM. It was also claimed that he touched the bottom of a member of staff at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), at its annual dinner in May 2019, when he was the organisation’s president.

The Guardian said sources alleged that Allan, 74, made inappropriate remarks on those occasions as well as separate, similar comments to two other female members of CBI staff in November 2019 and in 2021 respectively. Some of the women said they were offended by the alleged actions and considered his behaviour to be sexual harassment.