Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) boss Tufan Erginbilgiç is reportedly not allowed to view top-secret company documents relating to the UK’s nuclear submarine programme.
As a joint British and Turkish citizenship holder, Erginbilgiç is prevented by Whitehall’s “UK eyes only” rules from viewing some documents, despite Rolls-Royce powering Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet, The Guardian reported.
Group president Chris Cholerton has been tasked with the responsibility of handling sensitive documents, according to reports, alongside the firm's submarine head Steve Carlier.
Erginbilgiç took over as chief executive of Rolls-Royce on January 1, three months before the company was dedicated to power the UK’s next class of nuclear submarine.
Rolls-Royce already powers the UK’s entire nuclear submarine fleet and will continue to do so under the AUKUS pact between Australia, Britain and the US.
This will see the former two nations support Australia in acquiring a nuclear submarine fleet, with the first SSN-AUKUS vessels set to be delivered to the country in the early 2040s.
Britain will receive its first batch of new submarines to replace existing Acute class warships in the early 2030s meanwhile, with Rolls-Royce announcing expansion plans on Tuesday to facilitate the rollout.
FTSE 100-listed Rolls-Royce received around a third of its revenue from defence contracts last year, with a company spokesperson reassuring the Guardian that the Ministry of Defence knew of Erginbilgiç’s appointment beforehand.
“As chief executive, Tufan is fully responsible for the nuclear submarine business in Rolls-Royce and has all relevant oversight of the operation of that business,” Rolls-Royce said.
“As a global defence supplier, there are occasionally national eyes-only aspects of our work, such as in the US,” which can prevent UK workers from viewing documents.
Rolls-Royce shares dipped 0.4% to 150p.