BP’S SOCIAL MOBILITY AND LEVELLING UP CONTRIBUTIONS

“Growing up on a council estate, my parents were delighted when I got offered a job in a bank. But after receiving good exam results, I told my family I wanted to go to university. They were shocked. When I said I wanted to study engineering, they thought that was foolish. But eventually my dad said, ‘at least I’ll have somebody to fix my car for free in future. You should go for it’.”

LEIGH-ANN RUSSELL, EVP INNOVATION & ENGINEERING AND EXECUTIVE SPONSOR OF THE SOCIAL MOBILITY BRG

Leigh-Ann grew up on a council estate in Aberdeen and was one of the first in her family to go to university. She worked for Schlumberger before joining BP in 2006 as a completions engineer, going on to lead engineering, operations, process safety, and strategy and performance for BP drilling operations. Since then, she has been SVP for procurement, before being appointed to the BP leadership team earlier this year as EVP for innovation & engineering. She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Leigh-Ann Russell is also the sponsor of BP’s Social Mobility Business Resource Group, which was established this year.

ADVANCING SOCIAL MOBILITY:

WHAT IT WILL TAKE

BP BELIEVES THAT BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS TO SOCIAL MOBILITY ACROSS SOCIETY WILL TAKE AMBITIOUS GOALS AND REAL ACTION.

Partnerships and discussion across the public and private sectors are vital to creating a more equitable society and delivering on these goals.

BP recognises that it does not have all the answers. It welcomes collaboration, discussion, and input from stakeholders and other organisations that are also working hard to accelerate social mobility in the UK. The publication of the Levelling Up white paper and the actions of the Purpose Coalition are helping increase the discussion and momentum around social mobility.

NEXT STEPS

BP will focus on the delivery of their social mobility framework goals through continued supply chain and educational partnerships. Specifically planning to deliver: • A minimum of 500 work experience placements globally per annum by 2024.

• More than double the number of global apprenticeship opportunities by 2030 (up to 2000 apprentices).

• Data gathering on the socioeconomic background of their employees by voluntary self-identification, enabling them to establish a 2030 employee representation ambition in the UK.

BP will monitor its progress against the ambitions shared in this report. They form the foundation for greater progress in social mobility and equity that will continue to create opportunities in the UK and beyond. These ambitions have the potential to change lives for generations to come.