Rolls-Royce is a ‘burning platform’ that must transform, says new CEO

The new CE of Rolls-Royce has told staff that the engineering company is a “burning platform” that must transform to survive. Tufan Erginbilgic, the former BP executive who replaced Warren East as CE at the start of January, said the coronavirus pandemic could not be blamed for what in reality was a perennial underperformance of the business compared with rivals. “We underperform every key competitor out there,” Erginbilgic said in an address at Rolls-Royce’s UK manufacturing site at Derby, which was broadcast to staff globally. “Every investment we make, we destroy value.” He is expected to announce a sweeping and painful restructuring plan for the FTSE 100 company. Its market value has slumped by two-thirds over the last five years.<br/>