Businesswoman had refused to resign after allegations of inappropriate behaviour were made against tycoon

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Karren Brady has resigned as chair of Sir Philip Green’s retail empire, a fortnight after saying she had a “sense of duty” towards the tycoon’s employees.

Brady had previously refused to resign from Taveta Investments after accusations of inappropriate behaviour were made against Green.

Green, who is accused of sexual harrassment and racial abuse of staff, has denied any unlawful behaviour towards employees.

Taveta, which ultimately owns Topshop and Miss Selfridge, announced on Monday morning that Brady and Sharon Brown, a non-executive director who headed up its audit and risk committee, had resigned from its board.

Karren Brady: first lady of football has risen to top of business league Read more

“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 thanks them for their contribution and wishes them well for the future,” the company said.

Speaking this month after the Daily Telegraph published fresh allegations against Green, Brady said she had a “sense of duty” towards employees of Green’s group and “walking away” would have been the easy thing to do.

Brady, 49, a Tory peer in the House of Lords, is best known for the leading roles she has played at West Ham United, where she is vice-chair, and as an aide to Lord Sugar on The Apprentice TV show. With her numerous business interests, she has become a champion of women in the workplace.

Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk

Brown was brought in by Taveta in December 2017 to chair its audit and risk committee. She is a former interim chair of convenience shop and newsagent group McColl’s and the former finance director of Dobbies Garden Centres.

Calls for Green to lose his knighthood have intensified after the allegations against him. The Labour party chair, Ian Lavery, and the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Vince Cable, have called for the 66-year-old tycoon to be stripped of his knighthood after the businessman’s decision to drop a legal case against the Daily Telegraph,which had been investigating claims he had harassed staff and used non-disclosure agreements to secure their silence.

There have also been suggestions that the corporate culture over which Green presided was a continued cause for concern even after several aggrieved employees had received the pay-offs.