BP named a new board chair after activist shareholders pressured the company to move in a new direction. The London-based multinational that counts the BP Whiting Refinery as its largest refinery globally picked Albert Manifold to replace Helge Lund.

BP named outsider Albert Manifold, the former boss of building materials producer CRH, as its new chairman on Monday, as it grapples with a major strategy reversal in an attempt to turn around a weak share performance.