Chairman Karren Brady Steps Down at Owner of Philip Green's Arcadia

(Bloomberg) -- “Apprentice” judge and businesswoman Karren Brady has stepped down as nonexecutive chairman of Taveta Investments Ltd., the holding company of Philip Green’s Arcadia Group Ltd.

Pressure has mounted on Brady to resign since allegations of sexual harassment, racist abuse and bullying by Green surfaced in October. Green was named in the U.K. Parliament as the British businessman alleged to have used legal agreements and payments to hide such accusations, after taking out an injunction against the Telegraph newspaper. The billionaire retailer has denied the allegations.

Sharon Brown has also resigned as a nonexecutive director of Taveta. Arcadia’s brands include Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins.

Taveta said it’s in discussions with others to fill the positions. The boards of Arcadia and the other companies within the group remain unchanged.

In an emailed statement, Taveta thanked Brady and Brown for their service and wished them well. The company said it “expects to make a further announcement as to the composition of its board shortly.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ellen Milligan in London at emilligan11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III

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