BP waves goodbye to Britishness causes few ripples in UK

BP PLC's appointment of Managing Director Robert Dudley to replace luckless Briton Tony Hayward as CEO has drawn a muted reaction in Britain, however. While residents of Paris or Rome might be chagrined to see a foreigner running one of their country's corporate giants, politicians and the public here appear relaxed about it.

“British investors care about one thing and one thing alone,” said Matthew Gwyther, editor of Management Today magazine, “and that is the share price.

“If the share price can be shored up by having an American in charge, that's a good thing as far as they're concerned.”

BP's holdings and investors have become more American over the years — it is the top oil and gas producer in the U.S. — but not everyone is quite so sanguine about the change marked by Dudley's ascension.

Tom Bower, author of “The Squeeze: Oil, Money and Greed in the 21st Century,” said it's an indictment of BP that it couldn't find a British leader to succeed Hayward.

“What it shows is there is a lack of British talent within BP — and within Britain PLC,” said Bower.

BP's shares were buoyed by anticipation of Hayward's departure, but dipped after Tuesday's announcement of Dudley's appointment and news that BP would sell off US$30 billion in assets to help pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

On Wednesday, shares were down less than 1 percent at 402.5 pence (US$6.27) on the London Stock Exchange. In New York, shares were down 23 cents, less than 1 percent, at US$37.77 in afternoon trading Wednesday.

Business and patriotism are often uneasy allies, and many countries wrestle with how far to go in protecting parts of their economies from foreign ownership. The U.S., for example, bars foreigners from controlling airlines, while France protects sectors including defense.

Successive British governments have touted the country's economy as one of the most open in the world, placing little restriction on outside ownership of British firms. More than 40 percent of British-listed shares are foreign-owned, according to the Office for National Statistics, and many national icons are in the hands of outsiders. Automaker Jaguar Land Rover, electricity supplier British Energy and Harrods department store are owned respectively by India's Tata Motors, France's EDF SA and Qatari investors.

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