Energy giant BP is to move its annual general meeting outside London in a move that has raised some eyebrows in the capital, among many regular attendees.
The group’s 2018 annual meeting will be held in Manchester and chairman Carl Henric-Svanberg told shareholders the reason was “to encourage interaction with shareholders who may not normally have attended our meeting”.
BP has held its AGM in the capital for over a century and will be abandoning the Excel centre in London, where the meeting has been held for the past decade. Manchester Central will host BP’s 109th AGM on 21 May.
Henric-Svanberg said the decision to move the meeting to Manchester reflected the fact that 40% of the company’s shareholder base was now based north of Birmingham. The company also has close ties with supply chain firms and researchers at Manchester University.
BP is quoted as saying it is keeping the future location of its AGM under review.
Climate activists have complained that they will have difficulty lobbying both the BP meeting and also a Royal Dutch Shell AGM the following day in The Hague.
