After earning a Rolls-Royce reputation, Sir John Rose is standing down as company chairman and setting off on his BMW alongside TV adventurer Charley Boorman
Sir John Rose, who is leaving Rolls- Royce next month after 15 years at the helm, is planning to broaden his horizons – on a motorbike ride with television adventurer Charley Boorman.
Widely regarded as Britain's leading captain of industry, Rose will ditch the suit and tie and don his leathers for the marathon ride covering several as yet undisclosed countries this year, the Guardian has learned.
Rose, who rides his own high powered BMW bike in his spare time, is hugely admired in Whitehall, the City and the boardroom's of Britain's surviving manufacturers, but remains somewhat of an enigma.
The 58-year-old, who was born in Malawi, rarely talks to the press and has never done a personal interview. One business associate explains his reluctance to court publicity: "I suspect he thinks there is something a bit vainglorious about doing media interviews. He also may be conscious of chief executives who have actively courted the media then go on to have spectacular – and very public – falls from grace. If it becomes all about him and his personality, it would detract from what he is talking about in terms of the manufacturing agenda and Rolls-Royce."
On Thursday Rose made his City swansong, announcing his last set of annual results for the company he joined in 1984. The Guardian asked him about his emotions on stepping down: "Of course I will miss it hugely. It's a large part of one's life. It's been huge fun." But he said the synonymity between Rose and Rolls-Royce would soon fade. "It's often the case that a chief executive will be associated with a company. My predecessor certainly was. But the water closes behind quite quickly."
His services are likely to be in huge demand in government and the City. Last year, he turned down the post of trade minister; it was taken up by former HSBC boss Stephen Green instead. One friend recalls that Rose had decided some time ago that a move into politics would be "a nightmare". FTSE 100 companies will also be falling over themselves to appoint him as chairman, say associates.
Typically, he was tight-lipped about his plans, other than to reveal he will be going skiing: "I will worry about what I do when I stop worrying about what I'm doing now. I've not fixed up anything apart from a holiday. You'll find out in due course." Later, he allowed himself to be a bit more candid about life after Rolls-Royce and the difficulty he faces in making the right career choice having been at the same company for so long.
Rose is as notorious with the City as with the media for giving little away. At the end of his presentation to City analysts, Sandy Morris from Royal Bank of Scotland stood up and gave a generous, but tongue-in-cheek, valedictory speech.
Delivered in the style of the host of Mastermind, he said: "Over 15 years, John has been asked 907 questions at these meetings. As I don't want to retire at the same time as John, might I say he dealt with them all brilliantly. But he did pass on 906 of them."
The exception had come when Rose had been asked how many engines the company would make in 2004, the veteran analyst continued. He had answered that the number "Would lie between 0 and a bigger number when the correct answer – yes, he knew it now – was 'We've given guidance'." Rose, by all accounts, took the joke in good spirit.
Rose can be forgiven for being less than forward to the City and the media as the numbers are there for all to see. Yesterday the company said underlying pre-tax profits for the year rose by 4% to £955m, better than analysts expected. Rose said the three main businesses – civil, defence and marine – were all firing strongly. The profit figure included a charge of £56m for the costs of fixing the technical problems with its Trent 900 engine. A Qantas A380 had to make an emergency landing in November after its engine exploded, and the Australian airline grounded the rest of its Rolls-Royce-powered superjumbos. Rose denied that the episode would dent future engine sales.
The story of how he has transformed the firm from parochial British manufacturer into a genuine world-class global industrial giant is well known but is worth recounting briefly.
Focused
In 1995, Rolls-Royce's order book stood at £7.6bn; last year it ended at almost £60bn, more than half of which came from Asia and the Middle East. Profits have grown more than five-fold in the same period and dividends tripled. This is despite manufacturing as a proportion of UK GDP having almost halved between 1995 and 2010. Much growth is focused on emerging markets, particularly Asia. Unusually, the company's overseas expansion has not come at the expense of its British operations which employ 23,000 workers.
Rolls-Royce's bumpy share price is testament to Rose's at times turbulent reign. Shares crashed in the recession a decade ago, and, following the 9/11 attacks, as analysts fretted that Rose had bet the farm by pouring billions into developing new engines which would take decades to pay off.
As Howard Wheeldon of BGC Partners, and a long-time Rolls-Royce follower, says: "He stood up to the City in his own way. The view in the City back then was against anything that did not give a payback in at least two years."
Rose is on first-name terms with many political leaders around the world who have signed multi-billion dollar defence or civil aerospace orders with the company. At home, he has also played a clever political game. Since the global financial crisis, politicians from all the main parties in Britain have talked of the need to rebalance the economy towards manufacturing and exports. Rose has taken the opportunity to talk up industry. On Thursday, he backed education secretary Michael Gove's plan to bring back technical colleges to teach practical skills. "Taking the stigma away from technical colleges is very important – it's not obvious to me why everyone should go to university." But he has managed to remain apolitical throughout.
Rose will be replaced by John Rishton, who helped to turn round Dutch retailer Ahold. Analysts expect a slightly more open company. But, as Wheeldon adds: "They are enormous shoes to fill."
The CV
Born: Blantyre, Malawi.
Education: Degree in psychology, University of St Andrews.
Career: Banker with First Chicago and Security Pacific. Joined Rolls-Royce in 1984, appointed to board in 1992, chief executive 1996. Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Hon Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering. Member of JP Morgan International Council, CBI International Advisory Board and a trustee of the Eden Project. Knighted in 2003.
Personal: Married, three children.
Source: Rolls-Royce