An empty AGM and the value of engaging

This morning we held our Annual General Meeting in our London headquarters - in an empty auditorium.

Our original venue – the ExCel Centre in London – was converted into a temporary COVID-19 critical care hospital.

Of course, even if it hadn’t been, there is still a ban on mass gatherings in place due to the pandemic.

Despite that, we didn’t want to lose the opportunity to answer to our shareholders – the owners of our company.

So with Helge Lund, our board chairman, at his home in Norway, and me from our London office (my first visit there in nearly 3 months), we conducted the AGM live online. Providing an update on the company’s priorities and performance to our shareholders watching our webcast, and answering questions submitted in advance. For transparency, we will publish all of the Q&As online.

And we also announced some news - that going forward we will be paying our around 5,000 directly employed UK retail employees the Real Living Wage from August. It’s important recognition of the numerous challenges faced by our front-line staff, which have been highlighted during the current crisis.

Constructive challenge

Today’s meeting was the culmination of months of engagement with shareholder groups – including the UK Shareholders’ Association, Follow This and Climate Action 100+. Their constructive challenge has helped us better understand their concerns and informed our approach to becoming a net zero company by 2050 or sooner.

This week, Climate Action 100+ issued a statement in support of the changes we’ve been making and we very much appreciate both their private push and public support. If you have a moment, take a look.

But of course, we know – and they know – that there’s more to do. Everyone wants more detail to really believe us – we get it – and as promised we will have more in September.

We will continue to engage, listen and learn as a company. Ultimately - we believe we can achieve more by working together.