Shell bosses in a charm offensive

THE senior management of Royal Dutch/Shell is starting a whirlwind tour of shareholders and staff.

They aim to boost morale and explain plans to unify the company ahead of the vote on the shake-up at next May's annual general meeting.

The oil giant said last week it would scrap its historic dual-listing structure on the London and Amsterdam markets and replace it with a new holding company listed in London and with headquarters at The Hague.

The board, headed by Jeroen van der Veer, will see thousands of staff to explain the proposed changes and shore up the mood of the employees damaged by scandals over Shell's inflated oil reserves. Van der Veer is the group's first chief executive.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that former finance director Judy Boynton is still with Shell - nearly seven months after she was ousted in a boardroom coup.

She was forced out along with chairman Sir Philip Watts and exploration chief Walter van de Vijver in the wake of the overstated reserves scandal. Boynton has since been replaced by Peter Voser as finance director.

Unlike Watts and van de Wijver, she has been retained by Shell in an advisory role until her estimated £1m pay-off is sorted out.

Last week, Shell was forced to downgrade its estimates of proven oil reserves for the fifth time this year. Reserves are now a third lower than originally thought.