I don’t regret trying to go Dutch, says Unilever boss

DEFIANT Unilever boss Paul Polman has defended a controversial attempt to move the company’s headquarters to the netherlands, after the bid was sunk by a shareholder rebellion.

speaking publicly about the climbdown for the first time, he said the proposal was the right thing to do and defended his legacy as chief executive.

the 62-year- old spoke at a gathering of celebrities and business leaders to launch the One Young World conference, which encourages young people to aid important global causes.

His comments came ahead of Unilever’s third-quarter results today, with analysts predicting lacklustre sales growth at the giant behind household brands such as Persil and marmite.

the humiliating U-turn on ditching Unilever’s British headquarters and basing the company solely in the netherlands came after a huge backlash in the City. Asked about the debacle by the mail, Polman said: ‘One of the things with leadership is, is it the harder life or is it the easier one? We would like always to propose the harder, right one and go for that and not the easier one.

‘We have run Unilever for the last ten years, it is run it under that principle and we have done that for all of our stakeholders.’

Polman said that shareholder returns had reached 300pc during his time in charge. Asked if he had any regrets from his time as Unilever’s boss, he quipped: ‘We would not be sitting here if we didn’t learn a lot in life.’

during his time as chief executive of the Anglo-dutch giant, Polman won plaudits for tackling climate change and reducing the use of plastics. But he also faced criticism for what some investors see as lacklustre performance and a £10.3m pay packet that even he has admitted he is embarrassed by.

the botched plot to ditch Unilever’s British base cast fresh doubt on Polman’s future.

He is thought to be heading towards retirement next year, but critics now say he should depart sooner.