Rolls-Royce CEO unable to see submarine business docs due to security reasons

CEO of engineering giant Rolls-Royce is unable to see top secret UK documents related to its submarine business due to "UK eyes only" protocols of Whitehall security, reported The Guardian. Tufan Erginbilgiç, the CEO of Rolls Royce, has joint UK and Turkish citizenship.

The Guardian reports that Chris Cholerton, the company's group president and Steve Carlier, president of the division, has been given the responsibility of handling sensitive information.

Rolls-Royce makes nuclear reactors that power UKsubmarines. These include nuclear-armed Vanguard submarines. As per Royal Navy's "continuous at-sea deterrent" capability, at least one nuclear-armed submarine is always onpatrol duty.

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The 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement governs the nuclear deterrent function. It is the agreement between the US and the UK.

There are 1,500 engineers in Rolls-Royce's submarine division which designs, manufactures and supports reactors for UKsubmarines.

Erginbilgic's inability to see the documents about Rolls-Royce's submarine division is being reported as an example of bad governance. He took over the position of CEO from the Warren East. He had held the role since 2015.

A 'burning platform'

When he took over, he described the company as a 'burning platform' drawing similarity to an oil rig on the sea that's on fire with workers having to choose an option between fire or freezing seawater. Rolls-Royce has about 50,000 employees. Erginbilgic has brought in consultants and it is expected that thousands of jobs will be cut.

Erginbilgic's family is from Kilis, which is close to the Syrian border. He completed his study of engineering at Istanbul Technical University. He graduated in 1982. He studied further and entered the oil industry. He was CEO of British Petroleum's downstream business from 2014 to 2020.

Documents for "UK eyes only" are usually marked "UK secret". These files are expected to have been "communicated in confidence" and by convention, they “should not be released without the agreement of the British government”.

“There have been questions raised internally about whether it’s right to have a chief executive who is not able to be included in some of the most sensitive areas of the business,” said a source close to Rolls-Royce as quoted by The Guardian.

“As CEO, Tufan is fully responsible for the nuclear submarine business in Rolls-Royce and has all relevant oversight of the operation of that business," said a Rolls-Royce spokesperson.

“As a global defence supplier, there are occasionally national eyes-only aspects of our work, such as in the US. In relation to the submarine business, Chris Cholerton, group president with responsibility for the submarine business, supports Tufan”

The spokesperson has been quoted by The Guardian.

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