Rolls-Royce chief flies in new talent to head German unit

Rolls-Royce chief executive Warren East turned the ignition key on his management overhaul today by appointing a new face to run its £2 billion engine unit in Germany.

Andreas Schell, vice-president of US-based airplane-parts supplier UTC Aerospace, will replace Ulrich Dohle as head of Power Systems, Rolls-Royce’s second-largest division after aerospace. Dohle, 63, is retiring.

Schell will join in January and be based in Germany. He inherits a division with an order book worth £1.9 billion and a strong industrial history.

Power Systems owns MTU, which originally made engines for Zeppelin aircrafts and now powers Royal Navy combat ships.

The appointment is the latest move in East’s turnaround since he took charge 16 months ago.

He has already hired former HS2 boss Simon Kirby to be chief operating officer, and Stephen Daintith, finance head at Daily Mail and General Trust.

In January, East unveiled plans to simplify the business’s structure by shrinking the number of divisions. Power Systems originally came within the Land & Sea division which has now been abolished.

A tumbling order book and fraud probe by UK authorities had taken the gleam off the British engineering giant but East has gone some way to restoring its fortunes, with shares up 25% since the year started.

A BBC investigation this week claimed Rolls was involved in corruption to land contracts.