LONDON (Reuters) - The president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which is fighting for its survival after a series of workplace misconduct incidents, will step down early next year, the lobbying organisation said on Wednesday.
Brian McBride, who was elected CBI president in June 2022, will now start the search for his own successor.
"Changing culture is, of course, a huge task that takes time. Significant changes are already underway, and we are committed for the long haul," McBride said in a foreword to a report setting out management changes at the group.
The CBI fired its director general Tony Danker last month after he accepted that he had unintentionally made some colleagues uncomfortable, following complaints from female members of staff.
The CBI has also been hit by sexual assault allegations, unrelated to Danker, and the government has suspended high-level ties with the body whose main role is to influence public policy on behalf of its members.
McBride said last month that the CBI had unwittingly hired some "culturally toxic" staff with "abhorrent" attitudes towards women.
McBride, who is not the subject of misconduct allegations himself, is now expected to hand over to his replacement at some point from January 2024, the group said. CBI presidents typically serve for two or three years.
The CBI is one of Britain's main business organisations alongside the British Chambers of Commerce, but it has lost a number of members since the initial allegations.
Members are the CBI's main source of funding, and its board will hold a meeting on June 6 in a bid to regain members' support. The CBI has said it will narrow its size and scope due to lower income and has sought advice on restructuring.
"We are taking nothing for granted," the CBI's new director general Rain Newton-Smith, who was formerly a chief economist at the group, said.
Before heading the CBI's board, McBride was the chief executive of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s British operations and had a career in the tech and telecoms industry for companies including T-Mobile, Dell and IBM (NYSE:IBM).