Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Rolls-Royce announced today that Marion C. Blakey has been appointed to become President and Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce North America and chair of the Rolls-Royce North America Board of Directors, replacing James M. Guyette who will be retiring in May.

Ms. Blakey will leave her position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) where she has served nearly eight years.  At AIA, she's been an authoritative and influential voice for the aerospace and defense industry, representing approximately 340 of the industry's leading manufacturers. She has also played a leading role in promoting the export of civil and defense aviation products, and supported the priorities of America's thousands of suppliers to aerospace and defense programs.

Some of Ms. Blakey's many successes over her celebrated career include serving a five-year term as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) where she operated the world's largest air traffic control system and managed 44,000 employees and a $14 billion budget.  From 2001 to 2002, Ms. Blakey served as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).  At NTSB, she led a number of accident investigations, improved the Board's accident reporting process and strengthened its advocacy and outreach programs to promote safer travel throughout all modes of transportation.

"We are extremely pleased to have Ms. Blakey leading the North American region because she brings deep industry perspective and is a well-respected voice in Washington. These markets are critical to our Aerospace and Land & Sea Divisions and I am delighted to have a person of her calibre to join us in this role,"  said John Rishton, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce Plc.

"I couldn't be any more pleased to have Marion take my place as the leader of Rolls-Royce North America. I've known her for many years, serving together on the AIA Board of Governors and other very important industry initiatives.  She is a valued and trusted voice in our industry, and a wonderful friend. This experience - with AIA and previously with the FAA and NTSB - will be extremely valuable to Rolls-Royce and our 8,000 employees located in the region," said James M. Guyette, retiring President and CEO, Rolls-Royce North America. 

Born in Gadsden, Ala., Ms. Blakey received her bachelor's degree with honors in international studies from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia. She also attended Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies for graduate work in Middle East Affairs.  She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a fellow in the Royal Aeronautical Society and has received numerous honorary degrees and awards, including the National Aeronautic Association's 2011 Henderson Trophy for making "a significant and lasting contribution to the promotion and advancement of aviation and aerospace in the United States," Aviation Week & Space Technology's 2013 Laureate award for AIA's contributions to workforce development through STEM education activities, and the National Aeronautic Association's 2013 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, recognizing her "significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States."

Rolls-Royce has been present in North America for over 100 years and today it employs more than 8,000 people across the North America region in 26 US states, six Canadian provinces and three Mexican states. Its regional headquarters are located in Reston, Va., with major operations in: Indianapolis, Ind.; Prince George Co., Va.; Walpole, Mass.; Oakland, Ca.; Montreal, Canada; and, the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss.

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc
  1. Rolls-Royce's vision is to create better power for a changing world via two main business divisions, Aerospace and Land & Sea. These business divisions address markets with two strong technology platforms, gas turbines and reciprocating engines. Aerospace comprises Civil Aerospace and Defense Aerospace. Land & Sea comprises Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems.
  2. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 120 countries, comprising more than 380 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
  3. Our business is focused on the 4Cs:
    • Customer - placing the customer at the heart of our business
    • Concentration - deciding where to grow and where not to
    • Cost - continually looking to increase efficiency
    • Cash - improving financial performance.
  5. Annual underlying revenue was $23.36 billion* in 2014, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. The firm and announced order book stood at $117.92 billion* at the end of 2014.
  6. In 2014, Rolls-Royce invested $1.92 billion* on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centers, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.
  7. Rolls-Royce employs over 54,000 people in more than 50 countries. Over 15,500 of these are engineers.
  8. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills. In 2014 we employed 354 graduates and 357 apprentices through our worldwide training programs. Globally we have over 1,000 Rolls-Royce STEM ambassadors who are actively involved in education programs and activities; we have set ourselves a target to reach 6 million people through our STEM outreach activities by 2020.

*Based on an exchange rate of $1.60

For further information, please contact:

Investors:

Jilinda Crowley
Acting Director - Investor Relations
Rolls-Royce plc
Tel: +44 (0)20 7227 9282
Email: jilinda.crowley@rolls-royce.com

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