The director of the CBI in Scotland is to retire towards the end of the year, the organisation has announced.
The CBI said a timetable for Iain McMillan’s departure was agreed in January, before it came under fire for its registration as a supporter of a No vote in the independence referendum.
The business lobby group announced on Friday that it has now sought to have the registration with the Electoral Commission declared null and void, with its director general John Cridland saying it had made an “honest mistake”. Mr Cridland said the application to register “should not have been made”, as it had not been approved by the CBI board.
The CBI’s Electoral Commission registration saw 18 bodies – including several Scottish universities, the BBC and broadcaster STV either resign or suspend their membership of the CBI.
The organisation has now conducted a review of the situation and taken legal advice on the matter which concluded “it was never a valid application”, Mr Cridland said.
A spokeswoman for the pro-independence organisation Business for Scotland said: “The news that Mr McMillan will soon be departing from CBI Scotland comes as no surprise. His silence during the last week speaks volumes.
“However, it does beg some questions about the main driver behind the CBI’s response to the Scottish Government’s white paper. That was headed by John Cridland who was responsible for the composition and media promotion of what was clearly a highly politicised act of No-campaigning.”