In which city was Rolls-Royce Limited founded in 1906?

Rolls-Royce Limited was founded in Manchester in 1906. Charles Rolls and Henry Royce formalized their partnership there by registering the company on 15 March 1906.

The company grew from Royce’s engineering business in Manchester and Rolls’s established motor-car sales operation in London. Their first meeting took place at Manchester’s Midland Hotel in 1904, after Royce’s experimental cars impressed Rolls. Royce supplied the engineering expertise, while Rolls brought commercial experience and access to wealthy customers.

Manchester was the company’s birthplace, but Derby soon became central to Rolls-Royce manufacturing. The firm chose a Derby site for a large new factory, attracted partly by the city’s favorable electricity supply, and production began there in 1908. This is why Derby is sometimes mistakenly given as the founding city. London can also cause confusion because Rolls’s dealership was based there, while Coventry was considered among several possible factory locations but was not the company’s founding place.