Spear’s Review 

In 2023, Chris Brownridge became the first British CEO of Rolls-Royce in 14 years when he replaced the outgoing Torsten Müller-Ötvös. 

Since then, he has steered the firm’s growth and its shift towards greener technologies. In early 2025, he unveiled plans for an investment of more than £300 million to expand Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood manufacturing facility, aimed at supporting bespoke models for its UHNW clientele. Under his leadership, the company also recorded its third-highest annual sales in 2024 and opened new private offices in New York and Seoul.

Brownridge is a sales and marketing expert who spent nearly three decades with BMW, which he joined as a graduate in 1995 and where he held various senior roles before becoming CEO in 2021. 

At the time of his appointment, Brownridge explained that he was ‘both honoured and humbled to be invited to lead this great British brand at such a pivotal moment in its long and remarkable history’, saying ‘it is an extraordinary privilege’. 

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