P&O Ferries has hired a former DFDS executive as successor to Peter Hebblethwaite, the man whose controversial fire-and-rehire policy earned him the nickname “Britain’s most hated boss”.
Sky News has learnt that Kasper Moos, a Dane, will become the chief executive of P&O Ferries later this month.
Mr Moos, who has also held senior roles at AP Moller Maersk, the conglomerate, said in a memo circulated to P&O Ferries employees on Thursday: “This is a globally recognised brand in the ferry industry, one that today provides vital passenger and freight connections between the UK and continental Europe, and within the UK.
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“I am looking forward to getting to work, continuing the transformation of this great company, and ensuring we are providing our customers with the high quality service they need.”
His arrival this month will ensure a smooth succession at the helm of the company, following Mr Hebblethwaite‘s scandal-hit tenure, in which he sacked hundreds of seafarers and replaced them with cheaper agency staff.
Mr Hebblethwaite joined the ranks of Britain’s most notorious corporate figures in 2022 when P&O Ferries – a subsidiary of the giant Dubai-based ports operator DP World – said it was sacking 800 staff with immediate effect – some of whom learned their fate via a video message.
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The policy, which Mr Hebblethwaite defended to MPs during subsequent select committee hearings, erupted into a national scandal, prompting changes in the law to give workers greater protection.
P&O Ferries carries 4.5 million passengers annually on routes between the UK and continental European ports including Calais and Rotterdam.
It also operates a route between Northern Ireland and Scotland, and is a major freight carrier.
The company’s losses soared during the pandemic, with DP World – its sole shareholder – supporting it through hundreds of millions of pounds in loans.
Its most recent accounts, which were significantly delayed, showed a significant reduction in losses in 2023 to just over £90m.
The reduction from the previous year’s figure of almost £250m was partly attributed to cost reduction exercises.
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Mr Hebblethwaite had argued since the mass sackings of 2022 that the company would have gone bust without the drastic cost-cutting that it entailed.
The company insisted at the time that those affected by the redundancies had been offered “enhanced” packages to leave.
Last October, the then transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said: “The mass sacking by P&O Ferries was a national scandal which can never be allowed to happen again,” adding that measures to protect seafarers from “rogue employers” would prevent a repetition.
The minister’s description of P&O Ferries as “rogue”, and suggestion that consumers should boycott the company, sparked a row which threatened to overshadow the government’s International Investment Summit last October.
Sky News’s business and economics correspondent, Paul Kelso, revealed that DP World had withdrawn from participating in the event, and paused a £1bn investment announcement.
The company relented after Sir Keir Starmer publicly distanced the government from Ms Haigh’s characterisation of DP World.
A P&O Ferries spokesman confirmed Mr Moos’s appointment.
