Delivering the initial stages of the plan, which is subject to a final agreement being reached, will support 3,300 UK jobs at Rolls-Royce and supply chain partners by the end of 2029. Securing a UK engine position on new narrowbody aircraft would create tens of thousands more. As a result, Rolls-Royce and the Government will work together on a jobs and skills development plan to provide the necessary pipeline of future talent. The investment plan will also benefit the UK’s academic institutions, with university departments carrying out new research.
The transformation of Rolls-Royce over the past three years has made the company a stronger partner for the UK Government, which has a strong track record of supporting aerospace, and the company expects to invest significantly more than the Government across the narrowbody programme. Rolls-Royce is one of only three companies in the world that can offer the end-to-end capabilities needed to design, manufacture and service such an engine.
If Rolls-Royce’s narrowbody engine technologies are chosen by airframers, its stated ambition is to re-enter the market in partnership. It will select sites in the UK for new state of the art facilities for the assembly and test of the new engine and increase its advanced manufacturing capacity to make many of the high-tech components required. These include high pressure turbine blades – which are at the heart of a jet engine – and advanced composite fan blades. New factories will also need to be built by the UK supply chain as Rolls-Royce and Government work together to maximise the opportunity for homegrown suppliers.
About Rolls-Royce in the UK
Rolls-Royce currently works with communities in all four nations and every English region, supporting more than 73,000 UK jobs including 23,000 at its own 37 sites. Rolls-Royce spends over £2bn with more than 1,350 British suppliers and makes a £7.4bn economic contribution through its operations, with an additional £4.4bn in productivity-boosting R&D spillover effects. Approximately 80% of what Rolls-Royce makes in the UK is sold overseas, generating £8bn in annual export value for the UK and accounting for £1 in every £50 of all UK goods exported. Its most successful large commercial jet engine, the Trent XWB, is made in Derby and has already generated more than £30bn in UK export values.
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Find out more about Rolls-Royce in the UK.