Neil Woodford, the once-prominent investment manager, has publicly criticised BP’s board for removing its chairman after less than a year in post.
Woodford called out the oil giant’s board for removing Albert Manifold after just eight months in the job, making him the third chairman the company has been through in three years.
Writing on LinkedIn, Woodford argued that this level of turnover at the top makes BP look “ungovernable” and urged shareholders to examine “who is doing the churning.”
He said: “Most of the non-executive directors who pushed Manifold out have sat on that board throughout the entire period.”
He continued: “The same people who have hired and fired chairmen and chief executives in quick succession remain comfortably in place.”
Woodford added: “The board kept itself and discarded the one figure actually trying to change the Business.”
Woodford also contested the stated reasons for Manifold’s departure, arguing he was removed for being “a bit dictatorial, a bit forceful, a bit too willing to drive change without waiting for the room to agree.”
He described this as only a “sackable offence in a British boardroom,” contrasting it with the behaviour of many American chief executives who display similar traits and remain in post.
Woodford further argued that the UK practice of separating the roles of chairman and chief executive holds back growth, with governance frameworks making it practically impossible to combine them without facing shareholder resistance.
He also claimed boards now spend “at least half their time” on governance and other matters that add “nothing to the value of the business,” warning this causes companies to underperform against International peers.
He said: “It is no wonder those companies underperform their international peers. We should not be surprised that an economy drowning in regulation has produced boardrooms that are drowning in it too.”
Manifold was stripped of his roles as chair and director of BP earlier this week, having only taken the position last July, with director Amanda Blanc saying the board had uncovered several cases of serious misconduct during his tenure.
Reports linked the ousting to a “volcanic” temper towards colleagues, including allegations of verbal abuse and bullying, which caused the share price to fall sharply before losses were partially recovered.
The decision follows the removal of previous chair Helge Lund just ten months ago, over concerns about his ability to oversee the energy giant’s renewed focus on petrochemicals.
Despite the significant boardroom turbulence, BP’s share price has risen 18.2 per cent since January, with the group benefiting from oil price shocks caused by the Iran conflict, with shares closing at 517.7p on Friday.