Lawrence Jones has stepped down as CEO of cloud computing firm UKFast.
A Financial Times investigation published last week accused Jones of sexual assault and workplace misconduct and claimed to have interviewed more than 30 former employees at UKFast.
A statement from the Manchester-based company read: “UKFast confirms that Lawrence Jones has stepped down as CEO and is taking a leave of absence.
“The company acknowledges the serious allegations recently made in a national newspaper and is conducting an internal investigation.”
His wife and co-founder Gail Jones, who is the joint managing director of UKFast, will take over the CEO role for now.
Lawrence Jones, 51, said in a separate statement that he would “take a leave of absence” and vowed to clear his name of the “false and malicious” allegations.
“A number of false and malicious allegations have been made against me and I am absolutely determined to ensure that they are fully investigated so that my name can be cleared,” he stated.
“The interests of the employees, clients and investors in the business are paramount and much more important than any one individual.
“In the meantime, I am confident that the business will continue to grow and prosper.”
Lawrence and Gail Jones each own 30.9 per cent of UKFast while 31.6 per cent is owned by Inflexion Private Equity.