But making individually tailored cars, while profitable, is a labour-intensive process that requires time and space. At the same time, like other manufacturers the company is preparing for a future in which conventional cars will be phased out and replaced by electric models.
In the UK, the Labour government has committed to phasing out sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and is consulting car manufacturers on how that will work.
Brownrich declined to tell the BBC whether the firm would still be building cars with combustion engines for clients abroad in 2030, but said the firm had a “very clear roadmap” and that electric cars were the “right direction for Rolls Royce”.
Rolls-Royce said the extension of its factory would “create additional space” for building bespoke cars.
It added that the plan would “also ready the manufacturing facility for the marque’s transition to an all-battery electric vehicle future”.
The carmaker has already been granted planning permission for the expansion of the Goodwood plant, which was built in 2003 and initially housed 300 workers. There are currently more than 2,500 people working on the site, with a further 7,500 in the UK supply chain.
Brownrich said the Goodwood investment confirms the company has “a very secure business for the long term”, so those jobs “are very much safe”.
“Our business will potentially grow in terms of those more sophisticated commissions [and] in terms of the number of people that we need,” he added.
