Tony Danker
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Tony Danker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 December 1971 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Education | University of Manchester Harvard University |
| Title | Former director-general, Confederation of British Industry |
| Term | November 2020 - March 2023 |
| Predecessor | Carolyn Fairbairn |
| Children | 2 sons |
Tony Danker (born 30 December 1971) is a British lobbyist and former Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) from November 2020 to March 2023.
Danker was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 30 December 1971.[1][2][3] He was educated at Belfast Royal Academy, and the University of Manchester where he earned a law degree.[2]
Danker was chair of the Union of Jewish Students from 1993 to 1994.[2]
He studied for a Master of Public Administration degree at Harvard University, which he completed in 2005.[4]
Career
After leaving the University of Manchester, he worked for the former Chief Rabbi, the late Lord Sacks, from 1994 to 1996.[2] From 1998 to 2008, he was a consultant at McKinsey.[5] From 2008 to 2010, during the Brown Ministry, he was a SPAD at HM Treasury.[6] From 2010 to 2017, he was international director, then chief strategy officer, at Guardian News and Media, which publishes The Guardian and The Observer.[5][7]
From 2017 to 2020, he was chief executive of Be the Business, a government and industry-funded body launched by George Osborne aiming to make British companies more productive.[7][6] In June 2020, it was announced that he would be the next director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI): he succeeded Carolyn Fairbairn in November 2020.[7]
In 2023, Danker stepped aside after accusations arose of inappropriate workplace conduct involving a female employee earlier in the year. The CBI announced that it would be independently investigating the accusations.[8]
On 11 April 2023, the CBI announced that Danker had been dismissed with immediate effect as his conduct had "fallen short of that expected of the director general".[9] Danker said that had been made "the fall guy" for a wider crisis at the organisation.[10] In January 2024 it was announced that the CBI had settled on undisclosed terms an action for wrongful dismissal brought against it by Danker.[11]