Chaos at BP as Manifold doubles down on defence against firing

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 company’s allegations about his conduct.

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 at 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 after 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.

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