The man credited with overseeing the growth of Britain’s biggest listed technology company, ARM Holdings, is to take over at the helm of Rolls-Royce.
John Rishton, 57, is to retire as chief executive of Rolls-Royce in July, having held the position since 2011. He will be replaced by Warren East, who was chief executive of ARM between 2001 and 2013, a period when the company grew into one of world’s leading designers of electronic chips.
The announcement comes following a turbulent period for Rolls-Royce. The engineering group announced in February its first fall in sales in a decade last year. Last November, the company announced it was cutting 2,600 jobs, with about 1,700 expected in the UK.
East has been a non-executive director of Rolls-Royce since January 2014 and will receive a base salary of £925,000 in his new role, according to a statement this morning. Rishton will retire from the board on 2 July.
“There is nothing more complicated than after 14 years of being a CEO and CFO, I want to have a change and the things that I am looking forward to, whilst it is a well-worn phrase, I want to spend more time with my family,” Rishton said. “The fact that it is well worn does not mean that it is wrong. Hopefully I will do some non-executive roles and hopefully I will do some work with some charities.”
Rishton said of the tumultuous 2014 that the company had launched new products and been named as the exclusive engine provider for upgrades of the Airbus A330. “If I look at some of the really difficult years I have had, it really puts it into perspective. I was the CFO of British Airways at 9/11 and that was a really difficult period of time,” he said.
East, who once described himself as a “luddite when it comes to gadgets”, built up ARM into one of Britain’s most successful technology exporters. He will take over at Rolls-Royce almost exactly two years after leaving ARM.
During his tenure there, the Cambridge-based firm went from having a single product line to supplying almost all of the world’s smartphones. He joined the company in 1994. Rolls-Royce employs more than 54,000 people – 15,000 of which are engineers – across 50 countries.
“I am delighted to be appointed as chief executive of Rolls-Royce. It is well positioned in growth markets, with world class engineering skills and a proud record of innovation and delivery,” East said. “I have a strong desire to return to an executive position with the energy and enthusiasm a role like this demands. “The markets which Rolls-Royce serves and the technology it deploys are fascinating. This is a wonderful opportunity and I am very much looking forward to leading this remarkable company.”
He said his initial plans when he takes over would be to get to know the company better and described Rolls-Royce as “a long cycle business” when questioned on recent difficulties. “It [2014] included some launches of some great new technology, obviously the fruits of many hard years of work but still, those were launched and that has translated into orders for the future,” he said.
The chairman of Rolls-Royce, Ian Davis, thanked Rishton, saying he had brought the company through a period of “significant growth and transformation”. “I am very pleased that Warren East will become the new chief executive of Rolls-Royce following John Rishton’s retirement. Warren has an outstanding record as CEO of ARM Holdings. He is an engineer by training; he has a deep understanding of technology and of developing long-term partnerships. He has proven strategic and leadership skills in a global business and a strong record of value creation,” he said.
