Statement re Chairmanship of Rolls-Royce Group plc

Chairmanship of Rolls-Royce Group plc and other Board changes         

Rolls-Royce Group plc today announced that Simon Robertson will become its
non-executive Chairman with effect from 1 January 2005. He will join the
Rolls-Royce Board as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

He succeeds Lord Moore of Lower Marsh who has served as Chairman from December
2003 following Euan Baird's illness.

Simon Robertson is a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs International and
President of Goldman Sachs Europe, having previously served as Chairman of
Kleinwort Benson Group plc. He is also a non-executive director of Inchcape plc
and Invensys plc but will be retiring from these Boards by no later than the
respective dates of their AGMs in 2005.

Commenting on the appointment, Lord Moore said, "We are delighted to have found
a Chairman of the calibre of Simon Robertson. His deep international business
experience and knowledge of both the City and industry will be invaluable to
Rolls-Royce."

Simon Robertson said, "I am very pleased to be joining such a successful
international business, with a strong reputation for quality. I very much look
forward to leading the Board at what is an exciting time for the Company."

With the appointment of Simon Robertson as Chairman, Lord Moore will retire
from the Board on 31 December 2004.

Rolls-Royce Group plc also announced the appointment of Sir John Taylor as a
non-executive director with immediate effect. Until 2003, Sir John served as
Director General of Research Councils, having previously been the Director of
Hewlett Packard's European Research Laboratories. He is currently Non-Executive
Chairman of Roke Manor Research Ltd.

Sir John Weston will retire as a non-executive director on 1 December, having
completed six years as a non-executive director.

Commenting on these changes, Lord Moore said, "We are delighted that Sir John
Taylor is joining our Board. His deep knowledge and experience of engineering
issues will be invaluable to Rolls-Royce. I would also like to pay tribute to
the significant contribution Sir John Weston has made over the period he has
served as a non-executive director".

For further details contact:

Peter Barnes-Wallis

Director of Financial Communications

Rolls-Royce plc

65 Buckingham Gate

London

SW1E 6AT

UK

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Notes for editors

                              Simon M. Robertson                               

Simon Robertson was born in England on 4th March 1941 and was educated at Eton.

In 1961 and 1962 he trained with Banque de Neuflize, Schlumberger, Mallet in
Paris, Kredietbank N.V. in Brussels, Bankhaus Merck Finck in Munich and
Munchmeyer & Co. in Hamburg. In 1967 he worked in the Corporate Finance
Department of Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York.

He joined the Kleinwort Benson group in 1963 and worked there until his
resignation in February 1997. During that time he worked in most of the
businesses of the Kleinwort Benson group before joining the Corporate Finance
Division in 1968.

He was made a director of Kleinwort Benson Limited in 1976 and Deputy Chairman
of Kleinwort Benson Group Plc in 1992 before which he was head of Corporate
Finance. He became Chairman of Kleinwort Benson Group Plc in March 1996. He
resigned from the Group in February 1997.

He joined Goldman Sachs on 1st September 1997 where he is a Managing Director.
He is also President of Goldman Sachs Europe Limited.

Simon is a non-executive director of Inchcape plc, Invensys plc (formerly BTR
plc) and Berry Brothers & Rudd Ltd. He was a non-executive director of the
London Stock Exchange from July 1998 to March 2001.

He is Chairman of the Royal Academy Trust and the Ernest Kleinwort Charitable
Trust. He is also a director of The Royal Opera House Covent Garden Limited and
a trustee of the Eden Project, the St. Paul's Cathedral Development Foundation
and the Royal Opera House Endowment Fund.

                     Prof Sir John Taylor, OBE, FRS, FREng                     

In December 2003, John Taylor completed his five year term as Director General
of Research Councils, responsible for the UK Science Budget and the seven
Research Councils funding research across the whole spectrum of science and
technology in the UK science and engineering base.

He was formerly director of Hewlett Packard Laboratories Bristol, where he
developed major programs of research in areas including internet security,
wireless communications, telecommunications, personal digital imaging and
mathematics. Earlier, he lead various research groups at RSRE and ARE in secure
computing and communications, and command and control.

He was President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1998-9, and
chaired the UK Technology Foresight Panel in IT Electronics and Communications
until December 1998. He is an honorary fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
and a visiting professor at Oxford University.

He was knighted in 2004 for services to scientific research and is currently
chairman of Roke Manor Research Ltd and chair of the South West RDA's Shadow
Science and Industry Council.