Winston Churchill’s grandson has revealed he was abused as a child while boarding at a prep school by “some masters who had an entirely unhealthy appetite for young boys”.

Speaking about his childhood on the the Crisis What Crisis? podcast, Rupert Soames, the chair of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said he was “completely unembarrassed” to talk about the abuse and that hiding painful experiences from childhood could act as a “sort of sepsis in your brain”.

The businessman, who has led big companies including the outsourcing firm Serco, revealed he was abused while at prep school between the ages of seven and 12, but said “nothing bad ever happened” when he later attended Eton College. He told the podcast he had a “very privileged upbringing” and a “generally fabulous education”.

“I was sent to boarding school at seven … and it had some of the sins of boarding schools, including some masters who had an entirely unhealthy appetite for young boys,” he said.

“So it wasn’t completely plain sailing from that point of view, and the only reason why I mentioned it [is] because I was subject to some very poor behaviour.”

He confirmed he was abused, adding: “There’s nothing to be sorry about it. It happened, but the only reason I bring it up is because I’m completely unembarrassed about it.

“Many, many worse things have happened to many people but I think that it was maybe part of helping me learn behaviours and coping mechanisms which proved to be useful in later life.

“The idea that hiding things and not talking about them is a really bad idea, letting things become a sort of sepsis in your brain.”

Soames said the abuse had been “confronted” and one of the schoolmasters was sent to prison. He also said his parents were aware but he “never felt remotely abandoned or unloved, or anything like that”.

Speaking of his empathy for other victims of child sexual abuse, he said: “And when I watch some of these inquiries into historical allegations of sex abuse at schools or whatever, my heart goes out to the people who in their 40s and 50s are still harbouring truths that go back late into their lives and have probably never talked about it.

“And I can only imagine the pain that you get from that if you’ve never talked about it, if it has been allowed to grow as an incubus inside your brain, and then suddenly age 40 or 50 it comes out. I mean, it must be horrific.”

He added that being able to speak openly about his experience had helped him gain resilience. “I don’t want to make a big thing about it,” he continued. “It’s not been a huge thing in my daily life.”

Soames, a brother of the former Conservative minister Nicholas Soames, started his career at General Electric and spent 11 years at the temporary power supply company Aggreko before leading Serco for nine years.

He was named president of the CBI in December 2023, and tasked with steadying the ship after the Guardian revealed allegations of sexual misconduct that Soames said had tipped the organisation into a “near-death experience”.

• In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International