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BP has named Aviva’s chief executive Amanda Blanc as its next senior independent director in the first major shake-up of the energy company’s board since it oversaw the departure last year of boss Bernard Looney in a scandal over his past relationships with colleagues.
Blanc, who has been a BP board member since September 2022, will take up the new role after the shareholder meeting in April, replacing Paula Rosput Reynolds, the company said in its annual report.
BP board member Tushar Morzaria, who was previously group finance director at Barclays, will take up Reynolds’ role as chair of the remuneration committee on an interim basis.
The changes, triggered by Reynolds approaching the end of her nine-year tenure, come after a challenging year for the board, in which its appointment of Looney in 2019 and subsequent handling of allegations relating to his previous relationships has come under scrutiny.
Looney abruptly resigned in September, admitting he had failed to fully disclose past relationships with colleagues following a set of accusations received by the board in May 2022.
BP subsequently found that Looney had “knowingly misled the board” and terminated his notice period in December, announcing that the former chief executive would forfeit up to £32.4mn in pay.
In a letter to shareholders accompanying the annual report on Friday, chair Helge Lund defended the board’s handling of Looney’s departure.
“There were challenges too, including the change in CEO in September,” he said. “However, for me and for the board, the positive here was the effectiveness of our emergency succession planning.”
Under that plan, BP had “within hours” appointed then finance chief Murray Auchincloss as interim chief executive, before confirming him as Looney’s permanent replacement in January, Lund added.
While some shareholders privately questioned why that process needed to take four months, Lund said it was conducted “at pace” and included a “robust and competitive” consideration of other candidates.
Auchincloss’s annual base salary rose to £1.45mn following his appointment as interim chief executive, the report said. His total pay for 2023 was just over £8mn, including approximately £4.7mn under the company’s long-term share award. In 2022, prior to the clawbacks, Looney’s total pay packet had been worth a little over £10mn.
When Looney resigned, the company said it had begun an investigation into the allegations with the support of external counsel but has previously indicated it would not share details of the findings, beyond “themes and lessons” learnt, to protect the privacy of those involved.
In a move linked to that investigation, Lund on Friday said a dedicated board committee had been formed last year, on an interim basis, with a focus on “psychological safety and speaking up”.
“As a board, we are conscious of our responsibility to assess and monitor BP’s culture and to seek assurance from the leadership team that corrective action is being taken where practices or behaviours are not aligned with the company’s ‘Who we are’ culture,” he said.
Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6, will also step down from the BP board in April, after nine years of service.