{"id":506724,"date":"2026-05-28T10:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/506724\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T10:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:21:15","slug":"albert-manifold-rejects-lies-told-about-him-following-ousting-as-bp-chairman-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/506724\/","title":{"rendered":"Albert Manifold rejects \u2018lies\u2019 told about him following ousting as BP chairman \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former BP chairman Albert Manifold<\/a> has hit at the board of the oil and gas giant, saying no one raised any issues about his conduct before he was abruptly sacked two days ago. <\/p>\n

In a statement on Thursday morning, Manifold rejected what he described as \u201clies\u201d spread about him but said he accepted he was no longer to be chairman and director of BP. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat 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,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Manifold, who hails from Dublin, was previously the long-serving chief executive of CRH. <\/p>\n

He said he was removed \u201cwithout warning and without explanation as BP chairman this week. He has now amplified concerns about the manner of his sacking but stopped short of suggesting he might take legal action against BP and wished the new chief executive Meg O\u2019Neill well. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Who is Albert Manifold and why has he been removed as chairman of BP?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

BP ousted Manifold on Tuesday saying the move \u201cfollows serious concerns raised to the board related to important governance standards, oversight and conduct\u201d. <\/p>\n

The company said the board decision was unanimous, with various media reports suggesting Manifold had been removed because of \u201cbullying\u201d and \u201coverbearing\u201d behaviour. <\/p>\n

\u201cI dispute entirely this characterisation of my conduct,\u201d Manifold said on Thursday, adding that he sought to accelerate cost-cutting and had no time for private jets, company limousines or a big office. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had no interest in having a dedicated chauffeur-driven limousine at my beck and call on the occasions that I was in London. I, like most people, walked, took taxis, trains, etc.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no interest in taking private aviation nor in availing myself of corporate tickets for sports events. I made my own coffee, bought my lunch in the local cafe.. I sat in a small office, eschewing the grand corner-office privilege of previous chairmen. I did these things because I wanted to set an example.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manifold said his goals were \u201cnot always shared\u201d by others in the company, adding that he found the company \u201clacked strategic cohesion and direction\u201d when he arrived last year. <\/p>\n

\u201cI also believe it lacked clarity on messaging, urgency of delivery, and I believe those issues could have impacted shareholders\u2019 interests,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"\"Will new pay transparency rules close the gender pay gap for good?<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my very first day, I set out to address these matters and ensure that shareholder interests continued to be front and centre of everything that BP did. Throughout my professional career I have been a passionate advocate of shareholders\u2019 rights and have had a relentless focus on simply making businesses better. <\/p>\n

\u201cI continued to do this during my time at BP, however, it felt to me that my priorities were not always shared by everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He rejected as \u201cnonsense\u201d claims he tried to exercise the role of executive chairman. \u201cI have been to BP\u2019s head office in London on approximately 13 days in 2026. I am a part-time non-executive with many other commitments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it possible that in my determination to drive change on costs, performance, the balance sheet and shareholder communications, I pushed hard and challenged people directly? Yes, it is. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut there is a considerable distance between driving an organisation with urgency and the characterisation of my conduct that is now being put about.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to Manifold\u2019s statement, BP said it noted his comments but indicated nothing had changed. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand by the statement we have made. We have a duty of care to all our employees, particularly those impacted by his behaviour,\u201d BP said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former BP chairman Albert Manifold has hit at the board of the oil and gas giant, saying no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[127624,39086,79,18,19,17],"class_list":["post-506724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-albert-manifold","tag-bp","tag-business","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116651707020226219","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}