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BODY EXPECTED TO PUBLISH ‘CHANGE’ AGENDA TODAY CITY A.M. REPORTERS THE EMBATTLED business trade body the CBI is expected to lay out a series of measures today which it hopes will allow it to put a sexual harassment scandal behind it. The CBI, Britain’s biggest business trade body and for decades a mouthpiece for the country’s largest businesses, has been hit with a wave of accusations in recent months which have resulted in the ouster of director general Tony Danker, a whole host of members bailing on their memberships, and the temporary suspension of their engagement with government. The accusations include two rape allegations and a host of other allegations of unwanted sexual advances. City sources suggest the CBI has been undertaking a “listening” exercise with members in recent weeks, with a new head of culture recruited in an effort to overhaul the culture at the umbrella body. Yesterday, it was revealed that the
CBI has taken legal advice on insolvency options, should members not be able to back the organisation in a crunch vote next week. Sky News’s Mark Kleinman reported that the organisation had sought advice beyond its usual law firm, Clarkslegal, as well as Fox Williams, which conducted a root-and-branch review of the CBI’s response to internal allegations. That report concluded that senior staff dealt appropriately with allegations that they were made aware of. Nonetheless, a whole host of Britain’s largest corporates pulled their membership, including EY, Kingfisher and Aviva. Others, from Lloyds Bank to Mastercard to Uber, elected to suspend their membership until the CBI had got its house in order. One City source said a number of corporates were viewing the vote on 6 June as ‘D-Day’ and would make decisions about restarting – or ending – their membership after the CBI’s presentation.
The organisation’s finances will be under significant pressure if further blue-chip members, which pay the highest fees, pull out of the body. The now-former director general Danker accused the organisation of “throwing [him] under a bus” when it elected to bring in Rain Newton-Smith. A CBI spokesperson said: “Following a series of member resignations, we know that the CBI will need to be smaller and refocused in the future. The board has sought advice on matters of restructuring as may be appropriate, as any responsible board would.” Whilst the CBI has suspended its lobbying activity, other bodies have been jockeying for position to replace the organisation. The consultancy WPI Strategy, which is behind the nascent business grouping BizUK, has recently hired Keir Starmer’s former policy director Claire Ainsley with a view to expanding the work of BizUK over the coming months, City A.M. understands.
AS IF THE STRIKES WEREN’T ENOUGH... Just Stop Oil cause rush-hour chaos on London Bridge CITY A.M. REPORTER JUST STOP OIL protestors once again forced car and bus drivers to idle their engines yesterday as they blocked London Bridge during the evening commute. Met Police officers eventually moved the protestors on, but not before traffic
tailed back some distance along Borough High Street. Just Stop Oil are expected to continue their disruptive action despite politicians of all stripes suggesting the organisation was hurting, rather than helping, the environmental cause. £ WHY ENOUGH’S ENOUGH: P15
KPMG slashes UK staff bonuses as dealmaking drought hits firm’s fees CHARLIE CONCHIE KPMG has slashed the bonus pool of its UK workforce and reined in commission for salespeople as its profits falter amid a slowdown in the dealmaking environment this year, City A.M. has learned. The Big Four firm told staff in its
mid-year update last week that some bonuses would be slashed by as much as half while sales staff were told their commission could be held back until the end of the year. In a note to staff seen by City A.M. bosses told workers that while the company had seen "double-digit
growth in many areas of the firm” it had “not been as high as we’d planned”. “This means that our profit, and our bonus pool as a result, will be reduced on our original expectations,” bosses said. Staff in the firm’s UK-wide business development team were
told yesterday that the company would hold back 40 per cent of total discretionary commission until the year end, but it could not guarantee they would be paid the full amount, a source on the call told City A.M. City A.M. understands the measure was last taken by KPMG bosses at the height of the
pandemic in 2020 when corporate clients reined in fees. A spokesperson for KPMG yesterday told City A.M. payouts for UK staff had been hit by “a challenging economic environment”, which had affected the performance of some areas of the Big Four firm.
INSIDE HOME REIT INVESTIGATION P3 ASDA TIES UP EG DEAL P5 INFLATION FORECAST P7 AI RAISES ‘RISK OF EXTINCTION’ P9 OPINION P18 IS CANARY WHARF THE NEW SOHO? P21