Graham Sims, retail director for BP, has left the company following a European-wide restructure of retail operations.
A spokeswoman for BP Retail said: "A number of changes have been made to the way BP Retail is run as part of a European efficiency programme. This means that there is no longer a role of retail director within the new structure for BP Retail in the United Kingdom."
She added that the senior manager for BP Retail in the UK would now be Stephen George. George will take on the role of operations manager, with responsibility for retail operations in the UK, the Netherlands and Poland. He was previously the retail operating unit leader for BP Retail in Spain, Portugal, France, Greece and Turkey.
Sims, who was retail director for five years, was previously responsible for BP's retail business in Spain and Portugal. He joined BP following a two decade career at Mobil, following a Mobil/BP integration in Europe in 1996.
During his time at BP, Sims launched the fuel retailer's Connect format in the UK. He also oversaw the launch of the first BP Connect containing Marks and Spencer's Simply Food format and worked on the launch of the Nectar loyalty scheme, BP's premium fuel BP Ultimate, and BP Connect's cafe format Wild Bean Café.
The BP Retail spokewoman added that she was unable to give details on Sims' future.
Beth Brooks