Business vows to fight on after gropers’ gala

The so-called gropers’ gala was “appalling” but business chiefs will continue to fight for change, a hard-hitting quango said on Friday. Revelations of groping and sexual assault emerged after the annual Presidents Club all-male black-tie charity dinner at the Dorchester.

A spokeswoman for the Women’s Business Council said: “The allegations are appalling and we deplore them. We remain as determined as ever to showcase the men and women in business who are driving positive change on equality.”

The Government-backed body counts Dame Cilla Snowball, group chief executive of ad agency AMV BBDO; Mars global president Fiona Dawson (pictured); and Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, the former boss of outsourcing firm Mitie, among its members.

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, on Friday said he had never heard of the Presidents Club, let alone the event, despite a charity prize of tea with him being auctioned off.

He said he was “utterly dismayed and appalled” by the event but encouraged by the “depth of visceral reaction”.