Adam Frost

Background

Adam Frost, 30, grew up in Suffolk, England and went to Oxford University to study politics, philosophy and economics, not only gaining a first class honours degree but also rowing in 1996 in the famous Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race. He began his career as a business analyst at McKinsey & Co. in London where he specialised in marketing initiatives, strategy development and performance management, consulting to a range of leading businesses.

In 1999, keen to get hands-on operational experience, he moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to manage national operations for the UK’s first internet drinks retailer. After a further role investigating electronic derivatives trading, he moved into venture capital, identifying, evaluating and structuring deals in the telecommunications industry.

Joining BP

In 2003 Adam was granted a Fulbright Scholarship in corporate social responsibility and went to the USA to study for his MBA at Harvard Business School. He completed a Global MBA internship in 2004, joining BP as a Helios Fellow in September 2005.

BP roles

All the roles that I had prior to business school interested me but they didn’t really enthuse me. When I had the time to reflect while I was studying in the US, I recognised that one area that really interested me was the environment and nature – I grew up in the countryside – but I wasn’t sure how I could create a viable career in that area.

It struck me that it should be possible to harness the power of creativity in business to provide a fundamental service in a way that does not harm the environment, and I started to look into energy and renewable energy sources. That led to BP and when I won the Helios internship I asked if I could go to BP Solar.

Fortuitously, there was a need for someone to work at BP Solar in Madrid on procurement. It was a good fit for me because I speak Spanish. The company is growing quickly and I spent two and a half months there, putting in place a rigorous strategy for procurement activities to secure silicon, the critical raw material needed to build solar panels. I loved it because for the first time I was working in a company where people genuinely seemed to care about what they were doing: I got the sense that I was working for an organization that made a positive contribution to people’s lives around the world.

I accepted the offer to come back as a Helios Fellow because I saw that more broadly within BP there was a wealth of opportunities in the areas that I was interested in – renewable energy, climate change and conservation, reducing the impact of energy companies on the environment.

My current role is communications and engagement manager for the process fitness initiative, which aims to increase efficiency in the refining and marketing part of the business, BP’s largest business segment. I have only recently started, but this role is interesting because it provides a perspective on the core of BP; I am getting valuable insight, not only into this important customer-facing part of the business, but also into how BP works overall.