‘Lies’ – Chaos at BP as sacked chair defends himself against ‘anonymous’ attacks
Albert Manifold has dialled up his attack on his former employer BP, accusing the energy giant of lacking direction before he took the reins and denying the “lies” that have been told about him since his abrupt firing.
In his second statement in as many days, BP’s ousted chair launched a staunch defence of his record running the group’s board, and said he has “never once” been formally or informally reprimanded about his behaviour in his entire career.
“I dispute entirely this characterisation of my conduct,” he wrote, adding: “I have been a passionate advocate of shareholders’ rights and have had a relentless focus on simply making businesses better. I continued to do this during my time at BP, however, it felt to me that my priorities were not always shared by everyone.”
Manifold was ousted with immediate effect by BP’s directors on Tuesday having served just eight months in post, after the board said it had learned of “governance, oversight and conduct issues”. The issues, which it emerged subsequently included a “volcanic” temper that belittled staff, forced management to take “decisive action on his position”, the board said in a statement.
The latest intervention plunges BP into further turmoil, just weeks after the energy giant beat expectations with an update its top brass hailed as an “exceptional performance”. The results, which were accompanied by a major structural reset splitting the business into two core divisions, constituted one of the most emphatic signs yet that a turnaround overseen by Manifold and chief executive Meg O’Neill was beginning to bear fruit.
Boardroom drama jeopardises BP recovery
BP’s shares had outperformed those of almost all the supermajors this year, though they have fallen more than four per cent since Manifold’s sudden ousting – latest in a long line of abrupt governance and leadership changes. Manifold’s abrupt departure means the group has now churned through three permanent chairs in a year and four chief executives since 2020.
In his second strongly worded statement, which was more expansive than the concise intervention he made on Wednesday, Manifold said accepted the board’s decision to oust him.
“What I do not accept is that lies can be told about me, nor that anyone should be allowed to hide behind anonymity when commenting on my time at BP,” he added.
Manifold, who ran the Irish construction giant CRH for 11 years before becoming chair at London’s second-largest oil major, inherited BP when its shares and financials were languishing behind peers after years of soggy performance. He said that in his “determination to drive change on costs performance and the balance sheet” it was possible he “pushed hard and challenged people directly”.
“But there is a considerable distance between driving an organisation with urgency and the characterisation of my conduct that is now being put about,” he wrote. “At no point in my tenure as chairman of bp has anyone raised with me any issue about my conduct or my relationship with my colleagues”