Honorific Prefix: | Sir |
Roger Carr | |
Birth Name: | Roger Martyn Carr |
Birth Date: | 1946 12, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK |
Nationality: | British |
Occupation: | Businessman |
Years Active: | 1967–present |
Chairman, BAE Systems | |
Term: | 2014–present |
Predecessor: | Dick Olver |
Successor: | Cressida Hogg |
Sir Roger Martyn Carr (born 22 December 1946) is a British businessman. He was chairman of BAE Systems until May 2023.
Carr was born and grew up in Nottingham,[1] the son of a car dealer father and ballet teacher mother. After leaving Nottingham High School he worked for Boots as a computer programmer and studied at Trent Polytechnic where he graduated with a BA in Business Studies. He subsequently moved to Honeywell, working on the installation of mainframes in some of Britain's biggest companies.[2]
He has been on the board of eight companies, including BAE Systems, Centrica plc, Mitchells & Butlers, Cadbury plc, Chubb Locks, Thames Water and Williams Holdings.[3]
Carr's first period on a company board began in 1994 when he became CEO of Williams Holdings. In 2000, Williams Holdings demerged into Chubb and Kidde, and Carr became the chairman of Chubb.[4]
In 1998 Carr became chairman of Thames Water, stepping down in 2000.
In 2003 he became the chairman of Mitchells & Butlers, a British company that owns over 2,000 pubs and restaurants. He stepped down as chairman in 2008.[5] He became chairman of Centrica in 2004.
Carr was a senior advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the American private equity firm, but stepped back in 2008 when KKR considered a takeover bid for Mitchells & Butlers.[6] In 2008, Carr became the chairman of Cadbury plc, the United Kingdom's largest confectionery manufacturer. He resigned on 3 February 2010 when the company was bought by Kraft Foods.[7]
Carr was knighted in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to business.[8]
He was President of the Confederation of British Industry from June 2011.[9] Carr was succeeded in the role by Sir Michael Rake in June 2013.[10] [11]
In June 2013 BAE Systems announced that Carr was to join the board as a non-executive director and chairman designate on 1 October 2013, and that he would succeed Dick Olver as chairman in the first quarter of 2014.[12] He was to relinquish his role as chairman of BAE Systems in May 2023.[13] [14] [15]
In March 2015 it was announced that Carr had been appointed as the vice-chairman of the BBC Trust and would serve on the BBC's governing body for four years.[16]
Carr is the chairman of the English National Ballet. In addition, he is a Vice President of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, a Trustee of Bletchley Park and a Visiting Fellow of Saïd Business School,University of Oxford.[17]
Carr is married with one daughter. He owns two homes, one in Kensington, West London and one in the Cotswolds. He earns over £1 million through his combined roles, as of February 2023.