Karren Brady right to quit Philip Green role, says Sugar

Lord Alan Sugar has weighed into the controversy surrounding Sir Philip Green, claiming Baroness Karren Brady did the “right thing” in quitting the retail tycoon’s empire.

Speaking to the Press Association, the Amstrad founder said his Apprentice co-star and fellow peer’s position was “untenable” given recent allegations of harassment against Sir Philip.

“Karren’s very well-known for supporting women’s rights, supporting women’s business and all that stuff,” he said. “And I think that the circumstances surrounding her current position with that company is that it became a bit untenable, and I suppose it was with a heavy heart that she had to do the right thing and leave.”

Lady Brady last month resigned from her position as chairwoman of Taveta Investments, the holding company that owns Arcadia group.

The businesswoman, who is also vice-chairwoman of West Ham United Football Club, has previously been an outspoken critic of abuses of power in the workplace and was among those to condemn film producer Harvey Weinstein. In 2014 she was appointed a CBE for services to entrepreneurship and women in business.

Before her departure from Taveta, she faced accusations of hypocrisy for refusing to step down from Taveta, including from Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne, who called her continued employment “disgusting”.

She defended her position, saying she had a “sense of duty” to employees at retail chains such as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Evans and Burton. But she ceased to be a director of the company on 20 February.

A representative for Lady Brady did not respond to a request for comment.

Sir Philip has faced fresh calls for his knighthood to be taken away after it emerged he had used non-disclosure agreements to keep complaints about his conduct private.