Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for aviation and other industries. Rolls-Royce is one of the world's largest manufacturers of aircraft engines and has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors.
Rolls-Royce was the world's 16th largest defence contractor in 2018 when measured by defence revenues.[3] The company is also the world's fourth largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 12% market share as of 2020.[4]
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. At the close of London trading on 11 February 2025, the company had a market capitalisation of £52.66bn, the 11th-largest of any company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.[5]
The company's registered office is at Kings Place, near Kings Cross in London.[6]
History
Ownership
Rolls-Royce grew from the engineering business of Henry Royce, which was established in 1884 and ten years later began to manufacture dynamos and electric cranes. Charles Rolls established a separate business with Royce in 1904 because Royce had developed a range of cars which Rolls wanted to sell. A corporate owner was incorporated in 1906 with the name Rolls-Royce Limited.[7]
In 1971 the same company, Rolls-Royce Limited, entered voluntary liquidation because it was unable to meet its financial obligations. It remains in existence today, still in liquidation. Its business and assets were bought by the government using a company created for the purpose named Rolls-Royce (1971) Limited. Rolls-Royce Motors was separated out in 1973. Rolls-Royce (1971) Limited currently carries on the business under the name Rolls-Royce plc.[8]
Rolls-Royce plc returned to the stock market in 1987 under the government of
Senior leadership
Facilities
Testing
Rolls-Royce's £90 million Testbed 80 in Derby is the largest of its kind, sized for engines of up to 140,000 lbf of thrust.[39] Design started in 2017, construction began in 2018 and it was officially opened in 2021.[40] The 80,730 sqft facility is 426.5 ft long, has a 95 ft tall intake tower and a 123 ft tall exhaust stack. Built from 3,450 tons of steel and 27,000 m3 of concrete, it has a 49 by 49 ft tall and wide enclosed space and it can handle a 66 tons engine including its carrier.[39] The company completed its first engine run on the new test bed in July 2024.[41]
X-ray imaging allows to visualize the position of seals and clearances in real time while an engine is running. While it was retrofitted on Rolls' test bed 57, test bed 80 is the first to be purpose-designed for industrial radiography
Acquisitions
In 1988, Rolls-Royce acquired Northern Engineering Industries (NEI), based in the North East of England, a group of heavy engineering companies mainly associated with electrical generation and power management. The group included Clarke Chapman (cranes), Reyrolle (now part of Siemens) and Parsons (now part of Siemens steam turbines). The company was renamed Rolls-Royce Industrial Power Group. It was sold off piecemeal over the next decade as the company re-focused on its core aero-engine operations following the recession of the early 1990s.[42]
On 21 November 1994, Rolls-Royce announced it had agreed terms to acquire the Allison Engine Company, an American manufacturer of gas turbines and components for aviation, industrial and marine engines.[43][44]
Divestment
Energy gas turbine and compressor business
In May 2014, Rolls-Royce sold its energy gas turbine and compressor business to Siemens for £785 million.[57]
Commercial marine business
In July 2018, Rolls-Royce sold its commercial marine business to Kongsberg for £500 million.[58]
Nuclear services businesses
In September 2019, Rolls-Royce agreed to sell its civil nuclear services businesses in the U.S., Canada, Mondragon France, and Gateshead UK to the Westinghouse Electric Company for an undisclosed sum.
Major sales
In 1996, Rolls-Royce and Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding, specifying the Trent 900 as the engine of choice for the then A3XX, now the Airbus A380.[64] However, the Engine Alliance GP7000 would ultimately also be offered as an option on the A380.[65]
In October 2006, Rolls-Royce suspended production of its Trent 900 engine because of delays by Airbus on the delivery of the A380 superjumbo. Rolls-Royce announced in October 2007 that production of the Trent 900 had been restarted after a twelve-month suspension caused by delays to the A380.[66]
In 2011, Rolls-Royce faced scrutiny after high profile incidents involving the Trent 900. One of the engines suffered a partial power loss during a Qantas flight in February 2011. This followed an incident in November 2010 in which an engine disintegrated in flight causing Qantas Flight 32
Corruption allegations
Rolls-Royce has been accused numerous times of corrupt practices and bribery.
In 2014, facing allegations of bribery in the aftermath of the Sudhir Choudhrie affair, Rolls-Royce offered to return money to the Indian government.[85] The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) also investigated allegations of bribery in Indonesia and China.[86]
In February 2015 Rolls-Royce was accused of bribing an employee of Brazil's state-controlled oil company to win a $100 million contract to provide gas turbines for oil platforms.[87]
In October 2016 a joint Guardian and BBC investigation alleged widespread corruption by Rolls-Royce through middlemen in foreign countries including Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, South Africa, Angola, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. Rolls-Royce became subject to a major SFO investigation.[88]
Governance
As of August 2021 the board of directors consists of:[94]
- Sir Ian Davis, Chairman
- Warren East, Chief Executive
- Panos Kakoullis, Chief Financial Officer
- Paul Adams, Independent Non-Executive Director
- George Culmer, Independent Non-Executive Director
- Irene Dorner, Independent Non-Executive Director
- Anita Frew, Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair Designate
- Beverly Goulet, Independent Non-Executive Director
- Lee Hsien Yang, Independent Non-Executive Director
- Nick Luff, Independent Non-Executive Director
- Sir Kevin Smith, Senior Independent Director
- Dame Angela Strank, Independent Non-Executive Director
Products
Rolls-Royce's aerospace business makes commercial and military gas turbine engines for military, civil, and corporate aircraft customers worldwide. In the United States, the company makes engines for regional and corporate jets, helicopters, and turboprop aircraft. Rolls-Royce also constructs and installs power generation systems. Its core gas turbine technology has created one of the broadest product ranges of aero-engines in the world, with 50,000 engines in service with 500 airlines, 2,400 corporate and utility operators and more than 100 armed forces, powering both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Rolls-Royce Marine Power Operations (a subsidiary company) manufactures and tests nuclear reactors for Royal Naval submarines.[95]
Aerospace
In 2019, Rolls-Royce delivered 510 Trent powerplants, while 5,029 large engines were installed, including 32% Trent 700s.[96] For business jets, research and development
See also
- Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom
- GE Aerospace, competing engine manufacturer
- Pratt & Whitney, competing engine manufacturer
- Power by the Hour
- Survivable Airborne Operations Center
External links
References
- Preliminary Results 2025 Rolls-Royce, retrieved 26 February 2026^
- Rest of the World Rolls-Royce, retrieved 9 February 2025^
- Defense News Top 100 for 2018 Defense News, retrieved 20 March 2019