BP shakes up offshore wind unit with hiring spree

Pearson asset library: AL1392642

BP has reorganised the management of its offshore wind business after a series of new
hires from industry rivals Orsted, Iberdrola and RWE since the start of the year.

The appointments, amid an increasingly competitive war for talent in the renewable energy
sector, represent a coup for the UK-listed company, which has some of the oil and gas
industry’s most ambitious targets for the rollout of green power.

Matthias Bausenwein arrived at BP in August to head the offshore wind division after nine
years at Orsted. He has been joined by Alfonso Montero Lopez, who will serve as chief
technical officer for the unit after 12 years at Spain’s Iberdrola. Richard Sandford, a former
director at RWE Renewables, started at BP in July to head offshore wind in the UK, while
Dave Vinton, who also joined from Orsted this year, has been appointed to run talent
acquisition for the offshore wind division.

The new recruits follow the high-profile appointment last year of Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, the
former RWE Renewables chief executive, to drive BP’s renewables strategy as head of the
company’s gas and low carbon business.

In a break with oil company tradition to “grow your own”, BP under chief executive Bernard
Looney has been hiring more executives from outside the business. In February Looney told
the Financial Times that 36 senior executives had arrived so far from companies including
Tesla, Vodafone, 7-Eleven and the Toyota Research Institute. Since Looney became chief

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executive in February 2020, he has pledged to increase investments in low-carbon projects
tenfold and to build or acquire 50GW of renewable power by 2030.

Investment in the company’s five transition businesses — biofuels, convenience (forecourts

and food), charging, renewables and hydrogen — is expected to reach 40 per cent of total
capital expenditure by 2025. “We want to be a leading developer for offshore wind and add
certain projects every year towards 2030 and beyond,” Bausenwein told the FT.

(Adapted from the article in the Financial Times by Tom Wilson on 14th November 2022
https://www.ft.com/content/2281422c-cf74-49e6-8729-5fd917c8da2d)

Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Business

This case study relates to the following topic areas of the course specification:
1.1.1 The dynamic nature of business
1.5.2 Technology and business
2.1.2 Changes in business aims and objectives
2.1.3 Business and globalisation
2.1.4 Ethics, the environment and business
2.3.1 Business operations
2.5.2 Effective recruitment
2.5.3 Effective training and development

Recommended research activities:

1. Research Orsted, Iberdrola and RWE, what industry do they operate in?
2. Investigate https://www.bp.com/ and find out what their sustainability targets are.
3. What does “grow your own” mean in relation to recruitment?
4. Research the article “tags” linked to the article on the FT site.

Exam style questions:

1. Identify one document used in the recruitment process (1 marks)
2. Analyse the impact on BP of increasing their investments in low-carbon projects
(6 marks)
3. BP wants to continue hiring staff who can be innovative and creative to help them
achieve their aim of using more renewable energy. BP are considering hiring
people internally or external. Justify which you think BP should choose. (9 marks)

Students aged 16-19, their teachers and schools around the world can read FT.com
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