Uwe Franke has gained very broad international experience during 40 years across several busi- nesses and functions in the oil and chemical industries. Following leadership roles in operations, con- trolling, strategy and planning – both in refining and marketing – in Germany, UK, Belgium, and Portugal, he spent 16 years in leading corporate roles, first as CEO of BP Portugal, followed by CEO of BP Germany and finally CEO of BP Europe SE. He has led major acquisitions, mergers, restructurings, and cultural integrations. Uwe holds a PhD in Chemistry.
When working with clients Uwe combines his interpersonal skills, his empathy and listening skills with his deep entrepreneurial expertise and his wealth of experience – not only in business but at the interface with politics and industry associations – to deeply understand the clients’ demands, whether they may be entrepreneurial, interpersonal or personal, and to achieve sustainable improvements. whether they may be entrepreneurial, interpersonal or personal, and to achieve sustainable improvements.
After having gained his PhD in Chemistry, Uwe Franke joined BP in Germany. Until 1985 he worked for BP Chemicals in Hamburg and as plant manager at a JV of Bayer and BP at the Bayer Dormagen site. In 1986 he moved to the BP head office in London, where he worked in a variety of jobs: business advisor for refining in Africa and the Middle East, business advisor for retail USA and continental Europe, head of the global network development unit. In 1990 he moved to Brussels, where he took over the responsibility for the development of the retail network in Europe including the build-up of the East-Germany network. During this time, he was put in charge of a consortium of five oil companies bidding for Minol, the East German national oil company. In 1992 he was appointed manager of the B2B business, i.e., the heating oil and wholesale business in Europe. In 1994 Uwe was appointed CEO of BP Portugal in Lisbon. In 1996 he moved to Hamburg and be- came a member of the Board of BP Germany in charge of the retail business, followed by the promotion to CEO of BP in Germany in 1999. In 2002 BP took over Aral and Veba Oil and Uwe led the integration of the Aral and BP business successfully. He continued as CEO of BP Germany until 2010. When BP Europe SE was formed in 2010, Uwe was appointed as CEO of BP Europe. He held this role until he retired in 2012.
Uwe Franke has played a role in many associations and organisations at the interface between business and politics, e.g., Board of the German Industry Association, Board of the German Transport Forum, Board of the Eastern Committee of the German Industry, Steering Committee of the Energy Commission, Advisory Council to the Government, the German-Russian Forum, the German-British Königswinter Conference etc. He founded the Diversity Charter under sponsorship of Chancellor Merkel and was appointed German Ambassador for Diversity.
Uwe has three grown-up children with his wife Haike, from whom he is divorced. He is President of the World Energy Council in Germany, and he is a senior advisor to IFM Investors. Furthermore, he is a non-executive Director of Basalt AG and Brahms Oil Refineries Ltd. Further- more, he is a Boardmember of the Max Planck Institute for Plasmaphysics and of the Forum for Future Energies. He loves golf, skiing, audio books and travelling the world.