Sir Roger Martyn Carr (born 22 December 1946) is a British businessman. He was chairman of

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

until May 2023.

Early life and education

Carr was born and grew up in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, the son of a

car dealer A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

father and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

teacher mother. After leaving

Nottingham High School Nottingham High School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private fee-charging day school for boys and girls in Nottingham, England, with an infant and junior school (ages 4–11) and senior school (ages 11–18). There were 1177 stu ...

he worked for

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

as a

computer programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles ''software developer'' and ''software engineer'' are used for jobs that require a progr ...

and studied at

Trent Polytechnic Trent may refer to: Places Australia * Trent, Western Australia, a locality of the Shire of Denmark Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom ...

where he graduated with a BA in

Business Studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource manageme ...

. He subsequently moved to

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...

, working on the installation of mainframes in some of Britain's biggest companies.

Career

He has been on the board of eight companies, including

Centrica Centrica plc is a British  multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest suppliers ...

plc,

Mitchells & Butlers Mitchells & Butlers plc (also referred to as "M&B") runs circa 1,784 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in Birmingham, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange an ...

Cadbury plc Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...

Chubb Locks Chubb Locks is a former brand name of the Mul-T-Lock subsidiary of the Assa Abloy Group, which manufactures locking systems for residential, secure confinement and commercial applications. When the brand licence expired in 2010 the name cea ...

Thames Water Thames Water Utilities Limited, trading as Thames Water, is a British private utility company responsible for the water supply and waste water Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking w ...

and

Williams Holdings Williams Holdings was a major United Kingdom, British Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established by Nigel Rudd and Brian McGow ...

. 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 Kidde () is an American multinational company that manufactures and distributes fire detection and suppression equipment, as well as smoke and CO alarm units. Kidde is one of America's largest manufacturers of smoke alarms and fire safety pro ...

, and Carr became the chairman of Chubb. In 1998 Carr became chairman of Thames Water, stepping down in 2000. In 2003 he became chairman of Mitchells & Butlers, a British company that owned over 2,000 pubs and restaurants. He stepped down as chairman in 2008. He became chairman of Centrica in 2004. Carr was a senior advisor to

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...

, the American private equity firm, but stepped back in 2008 when KKR considered a takeover bid for Mitchells & Butlers. 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 Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

. Carr was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2011 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2011 were announced on 31 December 2010 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New Zealand"New Year Honours 2011"(14 January 2011) 2 '' New Zealand Gazette'' 55. The Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands: Grenada,Grenada: ...

for services to business. He was President of the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a British business interest group, which says it represents 190,000 businesses. The CBI has been described by the ''Financial Times'' as "Britain's biggest business lobby group". Incorporated by roy ...

from June 2011. Carr was succeeded in the role by Sir

Michael Rake Sir Michael Derek Vaughan Rake (born 17 January 1948) is a British businessman, former chairman of BT Group, former chairman of Worldpay and a director of S&P Global. He served as president of the CBI from 2013 until 2015. He was appointed to ...

in June 2013. 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 Sir Richard Lake Olver FREng (born 2 January 1947) was the chairman of BAE Systems, one of the world's largest defence contractors. Biography Early life Richard Olver was born on 2 January 1947. He studied at City University London, where he g ...

as chairman in the first quarter of 2014. He was to relinquish his role as chairman of

in May 2023. In March 2015 it was announced that Carr had been appointed as the vice-chairman of the

BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...

and would serve on the BBC's governing body for four years. Carr is the chairman of the

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scott ...

. In addition, he is a Vice President of the

Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity RNRMC (full name Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity) is a charity registered in England, Wales and Scotland. Its purpose is to support sailors, marines, and their families, including those from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Maritime Reserves, ...

, a Trustee of

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

and a Visiting Fellow of

Saïd Business School Saïd Business School (Oxford Saïd or SBS) is the business school of the University of Oxford. The school is a provider of management education. Business and management classes started at Oxford in 1965 when the Centre of Management Studies, ...

, University of Oxford.

Personal life

Carr is married with one daughter. He owns two homes, one in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...

and one in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

. As of February 2023, his annual earnings, through his combined roles, exceeded £1 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Roger 1946 births Living people British chief executives in the energy industry Businesspeople from Nottingham Alumni of Nottingham Trent University BAE Systems people British chairpersons of corporations Centrica people Knights Bachelor Mitchells & Butlers People educated at Nottingham High School Thames Water Businesspeople awarded knighthoods