Rothschild makes second top non-family hire

Rothschild Group has appointed Sir John Rose, former chief executive of Rolls-Royce, as the group’s deputy chairman, in what is the family-owned banking dynasty’s second hire ever of a non-family member to a top position.

The bank said in a statement on 21 September that Rose will work closely with Baron David de Rothschild, the sixth-generation chairman of Rothschild Group, to expand the bank’s international operations.

Rose, who will be working two and a half days a week, joins Rothschild after 15 years at Rolls-Royce, the world’s second-biggest maker of aircraft engines. Both Rothschild and the Rolls-Royce brand are well known for their long histories – while the engine maker has its roots in an electrical and mechanical business started by Henry Royce in 1884, Rothschild first began as a textile business in 1798.

The group, whose banking operations were founded in 1812 in Paris, appointed its first non-family chief executive last year, with Nigel Higgins taking over as head of the family holding company.

The Rothschild Group operates in 42 countries and has more than 3,000 employees.