TONY Danker, the Belfast-born boss of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has been sacked, sending shock waves through one of Britain’s biggest and influential business groups.
Tony Danker, who was born into Belfast’s Jewish community, stepped aside last month after the CBI hired law firm Fox Williams to investigate several complaints about him. According to the BBC, these included a complaint from a female employee in January and complaints from other members of staff which surfaced in March.
Mr Danker, who was paid £376,000 by the CBI in 2021, has been dismissed with immediate effect.
Mr Danker tweeted on Tuesday: "I recognise the intense publicity the CBI has suffered following the revelations of awful events that occurred before my time in office. I was appalled to learn about them for the first time last week.
"I was nevertheless shocked to learn this morning that I had been dismissed from the CBI, instead of being invited to put my position forward as was originally confirmed. Many of the allegations against me have been distorted, but I recognise that I unintentionally made a number of colleagues feel uncomfortable and I am truly sorry about that. I want to wish my former CBI colleagues every success."
Three other CBI employees have also been suspended "pending further investigation into a number of ongoing allegations", a spokesperson for the CBI said.
According to the BBC the CBI is also liaising with the police.
Mr Danker became director-general of the CBI in November 2020.
He was born in in Belfast in 1971 and educated at school in the city. He then went to Manchester University and worked for the former Chief Rabbi, the late Lord Jonathan Sacks, from 1994 to 1996.
He is a member of the community in Belfast which also produced a former president of Israel, Chaim Herzog.
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