City veteran John Allan insisted he’s “completely innocent” of accusations that he behaved inappropriately toward women, after being forced to step down as chairman of two FTSE 100 companies.

Allan said there was “absolutely no substance” to the allegations during an interview with Sky News on Sunday. “My conscience is completely clear,” he added.

The former Tesco Plc chairman has previously admitted to making a remark about a woman’s dress at a work event for which he subsequently apologized. However, he denies three other claims — including that he touched women’s bottoms at separate work events — published in the Guardian newspaper.

He said Sunday that he’d received support from women who have worked with him for decades since the story was published. He stepped down from the boards of both Tesco and Barratt Developments Plc in light of the claims. Allan said companies “feel under a lot of pressure” in these circumstances and that his former employers had decided to “propel me under the nearest bus.”

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He argued that there should be a different mechanism for dealing with misconduct claims that also considers the position of those accused, adding that the damage to his reputation is already done. Some men have told him they feel they have to be very cautious when working alongside women, Allan also said.

Allan, 74, was president of the Confederation of British Industry from 2018 to 2020 and said he was unaware of a toxic culture at the business group, which is battling for survival after claims of sexual assault among its staff. The allegations are unrelated to those made against Allan.

“I certainly saw no evidence, over the time that I was president, of a toxic culture,” Allan said. “I’ve talked to a number of women in the CBI who I know and I’m still in contact with who actually say to me that they don’t believe there was a toxic culture either.”

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