The British Insurance Brokers’ Association has canceled its CBI membership due to allegations of sexual misconduct made against senior executives of the UK’s leading business lobbying organisation, one of a group of members at have severed their ties.
The association, which represents 1,800 insurance brokerages and other intermediaries, notified the CBI last week that it was ending its membership, according to a person familiar with the matter. BIBA declined to comment.
In an interview on Friday, Brian McBride, CBI chairman says ‘a handful’ of members have canceled their membership since the allegations surfaced, leading to speculation about how the CBI would manage its cash flow if the crisis unfolds worsened further.
Many members, including Rolls-Royce, Marks and Spencer, EY and Aon, have have expressed serious concerns about the situation at the CBI as they await the outcome of an independent investigation by law firm Fox Williams into a series of allegations of sexual harassment, workplace bullying and drinking drug.
The allegations, first reported by The Guardian, include an alleged rape at a staff party in 2019 which is currently being investigated by City of London Police. The CBI has suspended three employees pending the outcome of the investigation.
Last week, following a separate investigation by Fox Williams into allegations of workplace misconduct, the CBI fired its chief executive Tony Danker.
The CBI employs around 300 people in its UK and international offices and struggles to retain members whose subscriptions make up the bulk of the lobby group’s annual turnover of around £25million.
McBride said he had spent much of the past week in private phone calls with members of the CBI, offering them reassurance that the organization could regain the trust of government and the public, urging members to judge the organization on its actions.
However, he was forced to cancel all outside engagements, including his prestigious annual dinner, after government ministers and leading opposition politicians froze interactions with the group.
McBride said on Friday it would be “unfair” for the government to leave the CBI out in the cold for the duration of any criminal investigation into the rape case, which could take 12 to 18 months.
The majority of CBI members said they were waiting to see the results of the Fox Williams report before making any decisions. McBride said the number of people who quit was in “single digits.”
However, the boss of one of the CBI’s biggest members told the Financial Times that the organization cannot stay in limbo for too long. “For me, it’s ‘wait and see,’ because if you have a spokesperson organization that is now effectively muted, and if you have a lobbying organization that is not interested in any of the people for whom you’re lobbying, how long can this last on?”
The executive added that all members would now review their position, making it difficult for the body to plan its future activities due to uncertainty about its cash flow from subscription fees.
“They won’t keep all those members. Many people pay their membership because they have always paid their membership. They never had a moment when everyone really thought [about it] at the same time.”
“We wonder, what do we get from the CBI?” said the chief executive of another CBI member, who said the allegations were “outrageous” and that its members were “watched”.
The Association of British Insurers, another member of the association, said it was monitoring the situation.
The CBI said: “Any resignation is always a matter of regret. As previously highly valued members, we hope – and believe – that they [the BIBA] will leave the door open to reviewing this decision in the future.