The future of the UK’s top business lobby group is in serious doubt as a number of the country’s biggest firms cancelled their membership.
Aviva was the first major firm to quit the CBI this morning, but was soon followed by Phoenix Group, NatWest and John Lewis, among others.
Many more blue chip employers, including BT and PwC, opted to suspend their membership.
“In light of the serious allegations made, and the CBI’s handling of the processes 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,” an Aviva spokesperson said. “We have therefore regrettably terminated our membership with immediate effect.”
Elsewhere, retail sales volumes fell by a bigger-than-expected 0.9% last month, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed today.
The decline emerged on the day that a monthly survey by GfK revealed consumer confidence at its highest level in over a year.
The reading is still in negative territory at minus 30, but this represents an improvement of six points on the previous month as Britons have become more optimistic about their personal finance situation over the next 12 months.
The S&P Global / CIPS Flash UK PMI, measuring private sector output, meanwhile, recorded the strongest growth in a year.
