//
According to the Financial Times, the move is expected to take place when Paul Polman takes over as chief executive from Patrick Cescau at the end of the year.
Tony Foster, investment director at Scottish and Widows Investment Partners, told the newspaper: "Investors want a better sense of what’s going on at the company ... They need to get the message across in the way that Bart Becht does at Reckitt [Benckiser]."
One shareholder said he wanted the new boss to "raise the metabolic rate" of the group.
In preparation for his new role, Mr Polman has been absorbing a critical analysis of Unilever by Andrew Wood of Bernstein Research, who contacted around 50 investors.
In May this year, Unilever R&D opened a global centre of excellence for drinks in the UK.
Among Unilever's brands are Sunsilk, Sure, Surf and Timotei.
