Karren Brady quits her role as chair of Sir Philip Green’s retail empire
Baroness Karren Brady has resigned from Sir Philip Green’s retail investment firm just days after saying she owed it to staff to stay at the company.
Brady has quit her post of non-executive chairman of Taveta Investments, the company behind Sir Philip’s Arcadia Group, which includes such brands as Topshop, the firm announced this morning.
Read more: Sir Philip Green 'paid female employee £1m over sexual harassment claims'
Non-executive director Sharon Brown has also stepped down.
“Taveta would like to announce that Karren Brady and Sharon Brown (in their respective capacities as non-executive chairman and non-executive director) have resigned from its board,” Taveta said in a statement.
“Taveta thanks them for their contribution and wishes them well for the future.”
It comes after Brady said she had a “duty” to employees to remain in her role in the face of allegations against Sir Philip of sexual harassment and racial abuse, which he denies.
Arcadia’s board will remain unchanged, Taveta said, as it hunts for successors to Brady and Brown for its own.
“Taveta is in active discussions with individuals who have significant relevant experience and expects to make a further announcement as to the composition of its board shortly,” the firm said.
Brady has served at Taveta, which owns brands like Miss Selfridge, since 2010 and recently said “the easy thing to do” would have been to walk away, choosing to stay for the 20,000 employees.
Read more: DEBATE: Should Philip Green be stripped of his knighthood?
Sir Philip has faced calls to be stripped of his knighthood since the Telegraph revealed he is the businessman at the centre of claims of sexual harassment and racial abuse – claims he denies.
The retail tycoon is accused of paying a female employee £1m to silence her over kissing and groping claims, one of five to sign non-disclosure agreements.