Financial Times: Sure at Shell: “Michiel Brandjes was named yesterday as the first company secretary of Royal Dutch Shell, the unified group that is due to be created this year.” (ShellNews.net) 11 Feb 05

By Clay Harris

Michiel Brandjes was named yesterday as the first company secretary of Royal Dutch Shell, the unified group that is due to be created this year.

The appointment takes effect immediately even though shareholders of the Dutch and UK companies won't vote on the merger scheme until June.

Anglo-Dutch rivalry within Shell is unlikely to be extinguished by unification, so the provenance of each executive appointee will be scrutinised closely. Brandjes, for the record, is from the Royal Dutch side.

He will remain based in The Hague, the unified group's HQ. Some 200 of Shell's 3,000 head office staff in London are expected to move to the Netherlands.