Rolls-Royce - Return to the report homepage
  • Report overview
  • Business review
  • Governance
  • Financial statements

Download Centre

  • Report PDF downloads

Page tools

  • Print page
  • Increase text size
  • Decrease text size
  • Reset text size

Related links

  • Rolls-Royce home
  • Investors
  • Sustainability

  • Governance
  • Chairman's introduction
  • Board of directors
  • The Group Executive and the International Advisory Board
  • Governance structure
  • Audit committee report
  • Nominations committee report
  • Ethics committee report
  • Risk committee report
  • Directors' remuneration report
  • Shareholders and share capital
  • Other statutory information
  • Material litigation
  • Annual report and the financial statements

Board of directors

Sir Simon Robertson

Non-executive Chairman

Chairman of the nominations committeeSir Simon Robertson was appointed to the Board in 2004. He is the founder member of Simon Robertson Associates LLP and Deputy Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc. He is a non-executive director of Berry Bros & Rudd Limited and The Economist Newspaper Limited. He is a director of The Royal Opera House Covent Garden Limited and a Trustee of The Eden Project and of the Royal Opera House Endowment Fund. He is the former President of Goldman Sachs Europe Limited. He was knighted in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to business. Age 69.

Sir John Rose

Chief Executive

A member of the nominations committee Sir John Rose was appointed to the Board in 1992, having joined Rolls-Royce in 1984. He has been Chief Executive since 1996 and will retire from the Company at the end of March 2011. He is a Trustee of The Eden Project. Age 58.

Helen Alexander CBE

Non-executive director

Chairman of the remuneration committee and a member of the ethics and nominations committees Helen Alexander CBE was appointed to the Board in September 2007. She is President of the CBI and Chairman of the Port of London Authority and of Incisive Media. She is a non-executive director and chair of the remuneration committee at Centrica plc and senior adviser to Bain Capital. She was CEO of the Economist Group from 1997 to 2008. She is also Chair of the Advisory Council of the Saïd Business School, Oxford; Deputy Chair of the governors of St Paul’s Girls’ School and a trustee of the World Wide Web Foundation. Age 53.

Peter Byrom

Non-executive director

A member of the ethics and nominations committees Peter Byrom was appointed to the Board in 1997. He is Chairman of Domino Printing Sciences plc and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was a director of AMEC plc from 2005 to 2011 and of NM Rothschild & Sons Limited from 1977 to 1996. Age 66.

Iain C Conn

Non-executive director, Senior Independent Director

A member of the audit and nominations committees Iain Conn was appointed to the Board in 2005. He has been an executive director of BP p.l.c. since 2004 and is Chief Executive of Refining and Marketing, having previously held a range of executive positions within the BP Group worldwide. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board of The Imperial College Business School. Age 48.

Peter Gregson

Non-executive director

A member of the remuneration and nominations committees Peter Gregson was appointed to the Board in 2007. He is President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast and serves on the Northern Ireland Economic Development Forum, the Council of CBI Northern Ireland and the Steering Group of the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and Deputy Lieutenant of Belfast. He was formerly Professor of Aerospace Materials and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton and has served on the Councils of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils. Age 53.

James Guyette BSc

President and Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce North America Inc.

Jim Guyette was appointed to the Board in 1998 having joined Rolls-Royce in 1997. He is a director of the PrivateBank and Trust Company of Chicago, Illinois and of priceline.com Inc and he is Chairman, National Air & Space Museum, Washington DC. Until 1995 he was Executive Vice President, Marketing and Planning of United Airlines. Age 65.

John McAdam

Non-executive director

A member of the remuneration and nominations committees John McAdam was appointed to the Board in 2008. He is Chairman of United Utilities Group PLC and of Rentokil Initial plc, the Senior Independent Director of J Sainsbury plc and a non-executive director of Sara Lee Corporation. He was the Chief Executive of ICI plc until ICI’s acquisition by Akzo Nobel. Age 62.

John Neill CBE

Non-executive director

A member of the audit and nominations committees John Neill was appointed to the Board in 2008. He is the Chief Executive of the Unipart Group of Companies. He is a member of the Council and Board of Business in the Community and is a non-executive director of Charter International plc. He is Vice President of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, BEN, the automotive industry charity and The Institute of the Motor Industry. Age 63.

John Rishton

Non-executive director

John Rishton was appointed to the Board in 2007. He served as Chairman of the audit committee and a member of the ethics and nominations committees until September 30, 2010 when the Board announced that he had been appointed to succeed Sir John Rose as Chief Executive. He will take up that role on March 31, 2011. John Rishton is currently Chief Executive Officer of Royal Ahold. He began his career in 1979 at Ford Motor Company and held a variety of positions both in the UK and in Europe. In 1994 he joined British Airways Plc where he was Chief Financial Officer from 2001 to 2005. He is a former non-executive director of Allied Domecq. Age 52.

Andrew Shilston MA, ACA, MCT

Finance Director

Andrew Shilston was appointed to the Board in 2003 having joined Rolls-Royce in 2002. He was a non-executive director of Cairn Energy PLC until May 2008 and he was Finance Director of Enterprise Oil plc from 1993 until 2002. Age 55.

Colin Smith BSc Hons, FREng, FRAeS, FIMechE

Director – Engineering and Technology

Colin Smith was appointed to the Board in 2005 having joined Rolls-Royce in 1974. He has held a variety of key positions within Engineering including Director – Research and Technology and Director of Engineering and Technology – Civil Aerospace. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Age 55.

Ian Strachan

Non-executive director

Chairman of the ethics and audit committees and a member of the nominations committee Ian Strachan was appointed to the Board in 2003. He is a non-executive director of Xstrata plc, Transocean Inc and Caithness Petroleum Limited. He is the former Chief Executive of BTR plc, former Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer of Rio Tinto plc, former non-executive Chairman of Instinet Group Inc and former non-executive director of Johnson Matthey plc, Commercial Union and Reuters Group plc. Age 67.

Mike Terrett

Chief Operating Officer

Mike Terrett was appointed to the Board in 2007, having joined Rolls-Royce in 1978. He has held a variety of senior positions in the development of new aero-engine programmes including Managing Director of Airlines and President and Chief Executive Officer of International Aero Engines (IAE) based in the United States. Prior to his appointment as Chief Operating Officer he was President – Civil Aerospace. He is a Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Age 54.

Tim Rayner

General Counsel and Company Secretary

Tim Rayner joined Rolls-Royce in 2007 having previously been General Counsel and Company Secretary at United Utilities PLC. Age 50.

  • © 2011 Rolls-Royce Group plc
  • Legal Information
  • Data privacy