John Allan is to step down as chair of the board and director of Barratt Developments from 30 June 2023. He will be replaced as chair of the board by Caroline Silver who was appointed a non-executive director and chair designate of the housebuilder earlier this year with effect from 1 June 2023.
Late last week, it was announced that Allan was stepping down as chair of Tesco at the retailer’s AGM on 16 June following allegations of inappropriate behaviour, which Allan said were “utterly baseless”.
In a statement Barratt said it was in the best interests of the company to “accelerate the planned transition to the new chair of the board to prevent the ongoing impact of the allegations against John from becoming disruptive to the company”.
The housebuilder said it had not received any complaints about Allan during his tenure at the company.
Jock Lennox, senior independent director of Barratt Developments, said: “The board is grateful to John for his nine years of service to Barratt. He leaves the company in a strong financial and operational position, continuing to perform well in challenging market conditions.”
Allan said: “It is with regret that at the request of the board I am stepping down as chairman of Barratt Developments as of 30 June 2023, ahead of finishing my tenure in early September as planned. My early departure from Barratt is a result of the anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations made against me, as reported in The Guardian which I vehemently deny.
“Over the past nine years much has been achieved at Barratt to be proud of. I wish my successor Caroline Silver the very best as she takes on the position of chair of this outstanding company.”
