Finance director of RS Group resigns over relationship with colleague

theguardian.com:

The finance director of a leading UK electronics company has resigned with immediate effect, after recognising that a personal relationship with a colleague showed “some shortcomings of judgment”.

David Egan, who had been at the electronic products distributor RS Group for seven years, quit as chief financial officer and director.

In a statement to the FTSE 100 company’s shareholders, Egan said he had recently notified the company’s board of a “personal relationship with a colleague”.

After a review by the board, Egan admitted “some shortcomings of judgment on my part” and said his actions had “fallen short of the high standards expected of RS leadership”. The CFO, who has served twice as RS Group’s acting chief executive, said he believed it was right for him to step down.

The London-based company, which distributes electrical and electronics components to manufacturers, said it had appointed Jane Titchener, a senior member of its finance team and the vice-president of corporate development, as its interim CFO until a permanent replacement is appointed.

RS Group said Egan would remain available to the company during an “appropriate transition period”. The company’s chair, Rona Fairhead, said the board had accepted Egan’s resignation. Fairhead, a former trade minster and former chair of the BBC Trust, thanked him for his service.

It comes after the former boss of McDonald’s Steve Easterbrook, was fined $400,000 (£328,000) in January by the US regulator for “concealing the extent of his misconduct” over a relationship with an employee.

The British executive was fired by McDonald’s in 2019 after directors discovered he had failed to disclose a secret relationship with a senior female employee at the company. McDonald’s accused