Speaking to the Financial Times during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said it was too late to reinstate the workers and praised P&O’s management for restructuring the UK company.
The paper said the chair and chief executive of DP World had expressed irritation at the way the UK government turned on P&O after its chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite announced the dismissal of 800 workers without consultation in March.
Sulayem said the decision was taken by the P&O board without input from its Dubai parent and the move could not be reversed because it was “in the past”.
He claimed the only available options were to switch to a cheaper workforce or cease operating.
“Peter has done an amazing job because he managed to save the company instead of 3,000 people [being] out of a job,” Sulayem said.
