Rolls-Royce hires ex-Deloitte partner Kakoullis as CFO

Rolls-Royce has hired former Deloitte partner Panos Kakoullis as chief financial officer to help steer the company through the crisis in the aviation industry.

Kakoullis will take over as CFO on 3 May from Stephen Daintith, who announced in August that he was leaving to join Ocado. Daintith will leave on 19 March and Ben Fidler, deputy CFO, will be interim CFO until Kakoullis joins.

Kakoullis joined Deloitte as a graduate and spent three decades at the firm doing audit, advisory and transaction work before becoming global head of audit and assurance. In February 2020 PA Consulting said he would be the group's chief executive but the firm changed its mind in October.

Warren East, Rolls-Royce's CEO, said: "Panos delivered significant transformational change at Deloitte, streamlining and simplifying the business and we look forward to benefiting from his expertise and experience as we deliver on our fundamental reorganisation and secure a sustainable and prosperous future for Rolls-Royce."

Rolls-Royce is cutting costs and seeking to conserve cash in the biggest crisis the aviation industry has faced. The FTSE 100 company is planning to close its jet engine factories for two weeks in the summer - the first time it has done so as a public company. The group has also put engine development on hold until demand revives.