By Ed Crooks and Kate Burgess
Published: October 13 2007 03:00 | Last updated: October 13 2007 03:00
Investors and analysts yesterday welcomed the plan to reshape the structure and corporate culture of BP set out by Tony Hayward, the new chief executive who took over in May.
On Thursday Mr Hayward signalled a radical change from the era of Lord Browne, his predecessor, saying he wanted “a fundamental shift in how BP works”.
Helped by the rise in the price of oil to a new record high yesterday, BP’s shares closed up 25½p at 619p. It was their biggest one-day increase since March 2003.
Robert Talbut, the chief investment officer of Royal London Asset Management, said: “There is a great deal of support for the changes, which are overdue.”
Details of the restructuring plan have not yet been spelt out and will be delivered to staff in the next few months.
Mr Hayward’s strategy includes cutting central support functions and taking out layers of management to reduce the complexity of the organisation and cut “unacceptably high” overhead costs, while raising the efficiency and reliability of the operations.
Colin Smith, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort, who made BP his top pick for this year, said: “Tony Hayward was part of the top management team at a time when things were going wrong, and indeed the exploration and production division that he led suffered from problems such as the delays to major projects.
“So there was always going to be a question as to what he was going to do. What this announcement signals is, yes, there is a different agenda, there is a different process.”
One institutional shareholder who did not want to be named said: “This was welcome news and the initial reaction has been really quite positive.
Developments will be watched with interest but it brings to mind similar moments seen at Unilever and Royal Dutch Shell [other companies where restructuring was welcomed by investors].”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
