CHICAGO -- BP Products North America has a new leader to steer its U.S. convenience-retailing ship, according to sources close to the company.
While BP officials would not confirm it, CSP Daily News has learned that Fiona MacLeod will succeed Polly Flinn to lead BP's U.S. convenience retailing team. MacLeod will oversee the company's marketing, merchandising, operations, franchise development and other key downstream activities. Flinn, sources said, would likely be transferred to another position in London.
Both sources, who [image-nocss] spoke on condition of anonymity, were made aware of imminent major changes within BP's U.S. convenience retailing leadership, though only one definitively confirmed that MacLeod would take the helm of what one industry insider called a listing ship. MacLeod is the former chief of staff to John Manzoni, managing director and CEO of BP refining and marketing.
A BP spokesperson could not confirm the reports.
The person taking over is going to have to do some heavy-duty housecleaning to get BP back on track, said one insider. Whether [the person] has the gall to make those hard decisions, we'll see. There's always going to be some acrimony in every organization, but the environment in [BP's U.S. headquarters] right now has gotten pretty negative.
Even so, the insider said, such leadership changes should ultimately lead to a healthier, more robust retail network.
Nothing but positives will come out of this, the insider said. One of my favorite sayings is that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting to get a different result. For the last six years, [BP has] done the same thing over and over again and kept expecting something different. Now everyone will be looking for a fresh sheet.
The announcement follows a CSP Daily News report last week that BP would likely continue to sell off company-operated stores as a means of strengthening its brand. Like those moves to put many corporate stores into the hands of retail-focused entrepreneurs, a leadership change has the potential to greatly improve the company's standing in the U.S. retail market.
At the end of the day, BP does a lot of things right, said the insider. It's doing some things with alternative fuels that no one else is doing, and it's greener' than anyone else in the petroleum industry. But with Big Oil companies, their forte is not running a retail business. [BP is] a poster child for that. The next benchmark or stepping stone will be to hear who the other players are going to be [behind MacLeod] for the future. Right now, it's like a big aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean. Everyone is waiting for announcements and plans to move forward. They're waiting for someone to say action' so [the organization] can start filming' again.
BP has approximately 14,000 U.S. gas stations under the BP, ARCO and Amoco gasoline brands. Of those, about 3,500 are company- or dealer-operated stores, while 10,500 are owned or supplied by independent marketers.
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