The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is making ‘enquiries’ into a memo which was leaked by staff at Grant Thornton UK, which contained criticism of CEO Sacha Romanovitch.
The memo, which contained Romanovitch’s appraisal, including criticism from partners accusing her of having a ‘socialist agenda’, was leaked to various media outlets at the end of September.
An internal investigation is also set to take place at Grant Thornton as the leak has breached its own data protection rules, according to reports.
Grant Thornton announced on 15 October that Romanovitch is due to step down from her position as CEO but will stay on in the meantime to ‘support a smooth transition’ for the next CEO, who is due to be elected by the end of the year.
Although Romanovitch faced criticism in the anonymously leaked memo, Glassdoor, an employer review website, revealed that the she has personal approval rating of 90% which is 21% higher than the average CEO.
Romanovitch was also listed at number 39 on Glassdoor’s Top 50 UK CEOs list 2018, higher than any other accountancy firm CEO.
Three partners, who wished to remain anonymous, told the FT in September that while they expressed sympathy for the criticism they also described the letter as ‘exaggerated’.
