'Silicon Fens champion' brings exacting approach to Rolls-Royce

Warren East was dubbed the champion of the "Silicon Fens" for his career-long efforts turning Cambridge-based Arm Holdings into the one of the few truly global tech successes to have emerged from British shores.

The self-effacing engineer will take a successful record in British technology and design to the leadership role at Rolls-Royce, which has endured a tough 12 months featuring two profit warnings and criticism from shareholders about its lack of communication.

Mr East never had such problems at Arm, where he was feted by investors for his work creating a near-monopoly supplying chip technology to the booming smartphone market. 

He was equally lauded by politicians for staying true to the UK - and in particular Cambridge, where Arm is still based - when other emerging tech groups were taking the easy route of selling out to larger US rivals.

A return to the front line of British corporate life with Rolls-Royce is unexpected given his retirement when leaving Arm in 2013. Arm's share price fell 3 per cent as investors digested his surprise move on that day.

However, in a neat turn of symmetry, Mr East's appointment at Rolls-Royce has pushed its shares up by a similar number, underlining the trust that the city has in his meticulous approach to operations. Mr East will work with a recently arrived finance director to restore relationships with investors.

Mr East said that he had "mixed feelings" walking away from Arm in 2013 in a move that he described as "the right thing to do" for the company. He agreed not to take on any executive positions for a period of time, but added that he was still "young, with lots of enthusiasm ... and not really ready for a non-exec life". 

Since his retirement, the 53-year-old has been appointed to four non-executive positions, including at Rolls-Royce, but those close to the company said that such posts lacked the hands-on ability to make changes where he saw the chance. 

"He wanted to get his hands dirty again and there is no greater train set than at Rolls," said one person familiar with the decision.

"For an engineer, Rolls-Royce was a chance that I could not resist," agreed Mr East, who pointed out the similarities between the group and Arm as research-driven and customer-focused "iconic British global leaders".

Mr East will bring a strong belief in the merits of research and development to Rolls-Royce, which already spends about £1.2bn annually on developing technology.

Mr East was chief executive of Arm from 2001 to 2013, having joined the company in 1994 after a decade at Texas Instruments.

Mr East will resign from most of his other non-executive directorships at De La Rue, the banknote printer, chipmaker Micron, BT and Dyson, the British technology group. He has also served as a member of several advisory boards for venture capital firms, and for both Oxford university and Cranfield University.

He is married to another engineer, Amanda, with three grown children. While his retirement gave him more time to pursue his interests in sailing, cycling, skiing and mountain walking - as well as playing the organ at his local church - he will need to be prepared for another hard stint at the coalface of the FTSE 100. 

"The life of a chief executive is one often spent on a plane," Mr East acknowledged. 

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