Rolls-Royce is a global company that provides power systems and services for land, sea and air. From enabling fast and reliable travel, to meeting the challenge of assisting world security, our products make a positive contribution to the quality of life enjoyed by people all over the world.

Our engines for civil aircraft enable people to travel on business or for pleasure with 600 airlines and 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators. They also play a role in the transport of cargo by air – increasingly playing a vital role in the global economy.

The security of more than 100 nations as well as humanitarian relief efforts relies upon our engines for defence aerospace.

Our products for the naval marine market are used by 70 navies and contribute to global security, while our commercial marine products enable ships to transport people and goods across the oceans.

The provision of clean, affordable power is vital to drive economic and social development. The products we make for energy markets enable the supply of oil and gas to consumers worldwide and the efficient generation of electricity. We have energy customers in 120 countries.

Gas turbine technology produces substantially fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional coal-fired power stations and gas turbines can use hydrogen or biofuels to generate renewable energy.

Supporting these products throughout their lives is a key part of our business, contributing to a sustainable economy by keeping engines in service for an average service life of 25 years and creating value for our customers.

We invest consistently each year in research and development programmes designed to make our products cleaner and quieter and we set ourselves stringent targets to reduce the environmental impact of our manufacturing operations.

The most significant contribution Rolls-Royce makes in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility comes from the wealth created by maintaining the 38,000 highly-skilled jobs which arise from our business activities, mainly in the UK, North America, Germany and the Nordic Countries. In 2004 our global wage bill was £1.5 billion. In addition, the company’s activities support thousands of jobs throughout our global supply chain.

We are a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index of the world’s best companies for their overall approach to sustainability issues. In the UK, we participate in the Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index.

We comply fully with the UK Government's Combined Code on corporate governance and have a non-executive Chairman and seven non-executive directors.

Our Code of Business Conduct applies to all employees and sets out the high standards of behaviour we expect. It covers areas such as confidentiality, conflicts of interest, business gifts and hospitality.

We also expect our suppliers to maintain high standards in their business dealings and we have developed a strong Supplier Code of Conduct to cover supplier quality and continuous improvement.

The health and safety of our workforce is paramount and we have rigorous procedures in place to monitor and maintain the highest standards in the workplace, including widely respected occupational health provision.

Policies are in place covering every aspect of employment from equality of opportunity to family-friendly guidelines.

We invest heavily in learning and development for our employees. The Rolls-Royce Development System ensures common processes for employee development across the world. The learning system ensures that employees have the learning they need for both their professional and general development and we deliver learning both through dedicated training centres in the UK, the USA and China, and through e-learning. We also offer training to our customers and potential customers around the world.

We are committed to the communities in which we operate and our community investment programme involves support for the arts, the environment, education and economic and social regeneration. In 2004 we made charitable donations of £969,000. In addition, contributions of £1.3 million were made to projects through the company’s sponsorship committee, individual business groups and through educational programmes. Our employees also gave more than £451,000 to charity through the payroll-giving scheme in the UK, United Way in the USA and United Way Centraid in Canada.