CBI scandal forces Aviva to ‘terminate’ its membership
Aviva, the FTSE 100 insurer, says it has “terminated” its membership of the CBI due to the scandal engulfing the business lobby group and its handling of the crisis.
The dramatic development was revealed just moments after Sky News reported that abrdn, the major fund manager, was also considering its position with the organisation.
Aviva announced its decision as the Guardian newspaper reported that a second woman had made a rape allegation against two male CBI co-workers, building on the series of historic serious misconduct claims to have engulfed the body in recent weeks.
“In light of the very serious allegations made, and the CBI‘s handling of the process and response, we believe the CBI is no longer able to fulfil its core function – to be a representative voice of business in the UK,”, Aviva said.
“We have therefore regrettably terminated our membership with immediate effect.”
CBI president Brian McBride has previously admitted that a “handful” of its 190,000 members had departed since the crisis began.
Brian McBride was elected president of the CBI in June last year
They are known to include the British Insurance Brokers’ Association.
The potential departure of abrdn would be acutely embarrassing for Mr McBride personally as he currently serves as a non-executive director at the firm.
Sky’s City editor Mark Kleinman reported that the board had been debating whether to terminate its status as a CBI member once a CBI-commissioned review of sexual abuse allegations against staff members had been completed.
A source said that alternatively it could decide not to renew its membership when it expires at the end of this year.
A string of blue-chip companies, including Rolls-Royce and Marks & Spencer, have raised public concerns about the crisis.
Last week, the CBI sacked Tony Danker, its director general, after saying it had lost confidence in his ability to lead the organisation amid claims about his personal conduct.
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Tony Danker was sacked on 11 April
Mr Danker told the BBC this week he had been “thrown under the bus” and said the allegations against him did not merit his dismissal.
He also apologised for making a number of CBI employees “uncomfortable”.
Business leaders have lined up in recent weeks to denounce its handling of the crisis, saying it had been too slow to apologise and had erred by appointing an insider, Rain Newton-Smith, as Mr Danker’s successor.
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Three employees have been suspended, while a police investigation is under way.
The CBI said this week that the second phase of an inquiry by the law firm Fox Williams would conclude imminently.
“The board will be communicating its response to this and other steps we are taking to bring about the wider change that is needed early next week,” the group said on Thursday.
Business
Energy bills to rise again from January but spring falls to come, research firm Cornwall Insight forecasts
Energy bills are to rise again next year, according to a respected forecaster.
Costs from January to March are projected to rise another 1% to £1,736 a year for the average user, according to research firm Cornwall Insight.
The energy price cap, which sets a limit on how much companies can charge per unit of electricity, is also expected to rise, costing typical households an extra £19 a year.
It’s a further increase after energy costs rose 10% from October.
After the latest hike, there were hopes of a fall in the new year, but volatile wholesale gas and electricity markets are still above historic average costs.
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Prices have gone up due to supply concerns arising from Russia‘s war in Ukraine, and maintenance of Norwegian gas infrastructure.
But spring is expected to herald a reduction as is October 2025, Cornwall Insight said.
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‘Energy prices make me depressed’, pensioner Roy Roots said in August
Every three months energy regulator Ofgem revises the cap based on wholesale costs.
The official January price cap announcement will be made on Friday.
It comes as millions of pensioners lost their automatic winter fuel allowance payment after the government means-tested the benefit.
Meanwhile, Cornwall Insight’s principal consultant Dr Craig Lowrey warned “millions” of households won’t heat their homes to “recommended temperatures, risking serious health consequences” with bills on the rise.
“With it being widely accepted that high prices are here to stay, we need to see action,” he said, suggesting options like cheaper rates for low-income homes, benefit restructuring, or other targeted support for the vulnerable “must be seriously considered”.
The energy price cap system is being reviewed by Ofgem with possible changes to the standing charge coming over the next year.
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The long-lasting solution to high energy bills is the transition to UK-produced renewable power, the firm said.
“While there will be upfront costs, this shift is essential to building a sustainable and secure energy system for the future.”
The owners of Scotland’s only oil refinery have rejected a US-led approach about a possible bid for it months before its scheduled closure.
Sky News has learnt that a consortium said to be led by Robert McKee, an American energy industry veteran, wrote to Petroineos, the owner of the Grangemouth site, to express an interest in buying it.
The approach, which is understood to have been made earlier this month, was rejected by Petroineos, which is 50%-owned by the petrochemicals empire founded by the Manchester United FC shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The consortium is understood to comprise The Canal Group, which is reportedly developing a green energy refinery in Texas, and Trading Stack, a Middle East-based commodities trader.
Mr McKee spent nearly four decades with ConocoPhillips, one of the biggest energy companies in the US.
Sources close to the situation said that Petroineos had rebuffed the offer in order to concentrate on a publicly announced plan to transform the century-old plant into a finished fuels import terminal.
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They added that the nature of the consortium’s approach had raised questions about its access to financing and expertise in operating an asset of this kind.
The Grangemouth refinery, which employs about 450 people, loses about £200m annually.
Its other shareholder is the state-backed Chinese energy giant PetroChina.
The site is due to close next year.
A person close to the consortium insisted that its financing was robust and said it would assess the feasibility of building a new refinery elsewhere in the area.
They added that the consortium had had “positive interactions” with trade union officials, and believed that there was scope to rapidly make Grangemouth’s refinery operations profitable.
On Monday, a spokesman for Petroineos said: “Since the Petroineos joint venture was formed 13 years ago, our shareholders have invested nearly £1bn in the refinery, only to absorb losses of £600m.
“Last week, the refinery lost £385,000 on average each day and we expect to lose more than £150m in total during the course of this year.
“We have not received any credible or viable bids for the refinery.”
A spokesman for the consortium declined to comment.
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