‘Not only did they throw me under the bus, they reversed it back over me,’ says EX-CBI boss Tony Danker after sacking

EX-CBI boss Tony Danker hit back yesterday over his sacking, claiming: “Not only did they throw me under the bus, they reversed the bus back over me.”

The ousted director general said he had been made “the fall guy” at the sleaze-ridden business lobby group.

5

5

Mr Danker said his reputation has been “totally destroyed” after being fired over complaints about his behaviour.

He told the BBC he accepted he made some staff feel “very uncomfortable” — adding: “That is on me, and I apologise for that.”

But he said that his name had been wrongly linked to separate, serious allegations — including a rape claim that allegedly occurred at the CBI before he joined.

He spoke as a string of big firms revealed that they had decided to cancel their CBI membership.

One business leader said they were simply waiting for the outcome of an independent investigation into misconduct allegations at the group before pulling the plug.

They said: “We don’t need ­borrowed bad publicity, I can’t see it coming back from this.”

Another asked: “What is the point of the CBI?” after it was reported that the Government has paused its engagement with it.

The CBI is Britain’s biggest lobby group and funded by its 190,000 members.

However, a number of companies have withdrawn membership in recent years in favour of more ­targeted industry associations.

One City boss quipped: “The CBI tries to represent everyone and in doing so it represents no one.”

Critics said Mr Danker’s decision to go public was putting his own self-interest over the experiences of employees at the CBI.

The CBI said at the time of his dismissal that Mr Danker’s conduct “fell short of that expected”.

Its president Brian McBride said yesterday Mr Danker’s version of events was “selective”.

HSBC ping pong

HSBC has hit back at claims it has not engaged with its biggest shareholder about a proposed spin-off.

PING AN, a Chinese insurer which owns an eight per cent stake, issued a rare statement this week detailing how it thinks the bank should break up its Asia operations. It has accused HSBC of exaggerating the costs and risks of the spin-off and said it refused to verbally engage in discussions.

HSBC said it had discussed the matter with Ping An 20 times and still believed a break-up would destroy value.

Land Rover end

JAGUAR LAND ROVER is dropping the 75-year-old “Land Rover” brand in a modernising move to focus on electric cars and self-driving vehicles.

The firm will become “JLR” and split itself into Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar as part of a “house of brands” strategy. It also plans to invest £15billion into upgrading its British ­factories into electric sites.

The first all-electric Range Rover will be available to order this year, followed by a British-made electric £100,000 Jaguar “grand tourer”.

RENTS rose by an average 4.9 per cent in March, the fastest pace since 2016 and the 20th month in a row rents have soared. More expensive mortgage costs have led to many would-be buyers failing to secure home ownership.

Lidl wins on Tesco logo lift

5

5

TESCO could have to change the colour of its Clubcard Prices promotions after losing a court battle with LIDL.

The budget chain had accused Tesco of copying its blue and yellow circle logo to try to make customers think its items are as cheap as Lidl’s.

And yesterday the High Court ruled in Lidl’s favour.

Lidl took out a lawsuit in 2020 claiming copyright infringement over the logo .

Judge Joanna Smith said in a written ruling Tesco had “taken unfair advantage of the distinctive reputation” for low prices held by Lidl’s trademarks.

 She added using the blue and yellow circle was part of Tesco’s strong desire “to stop the switching away of financially squeezed customers”.

Tesco has a separate price match with discount rival ALDI.

The chain is set to appeal the “disappointing” decision and said the attempt to trademark a yellow circle was a “figment of Lidl’s legal imagination”.

Coach in top gear

COMMUTERS swapping trains for coaches during rail strikes helped National Express bookings surge by 87 per cent.

It enjoyed the boost in the first quarter of 2023 — with overall sales in the three months up by a quarter to £153.9million.

But the coach firm also saw its own strikes, with 3,200 bus drivers walking out in March.

It ended up agreeing a bigger than expected pay deal, meaning it now needs to slash costs by £25million.

The firm said it plans no frontline job cuts as part of the cost cutting and is still investing in an order for 170 new double deck electric buses.

Heineken’s cheer

5

DRINKERS are still sinking HEINEKEN beers despite a 12 per cent hike in prices.

The Dutch brewer, which also owns Amstel, Beavertown, Birra Moretti and Strongbow cider, said UK sales were five per cent higher in the first three months of the year.

Chief exec Dolf van den Brink said sales were “holding up better than expected”.

Total sales were marginally up to £6.7billion in the first three months of the year, from £6.2billion last year.

Heineken said sales volumes were down ten per cent after the group stopped selling in Russia and a decline in Asia.

£1bn draft eased

A SHAKE-UP of overdraft charges saved hard-pressed families £1billion last year.

The Financial Conduct Authority clamped down on banks charging customers ­significantly more for using unarranged overdrafts.

Before the intervention, customers borrowing £100 a month in an unarranged deal would have had to pay £10.49, compared to £5.39 for an arranged one.

In 2021, 15million people were using their overdrafts and that number is expected to have grown as finances have become squeezed in the cost of living crisis.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk