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What Is The British Army For? Asks Army Boss

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Given that Sir Peter Wall is the Chief of the General Staff with a lifetime in uniform behind him, it might seem dim of him to need to ask. At the very least the reply should be "killing people".

Well, no. Or not entirely.

By 2020 Britain will have an army of 82,000 regulars and 30,000 part-timers in the Territorial Army.

In short, it will be a tiny army even though the defence budget is likely to remain at number four or five in the world.

Meanwhile heavy cuts, to offset a £39bn deficit, mean that any thought of what an army is really for will have to be conditioned by what it can afford to be.

Sir Peter will not tell us the answers to his question at the International Institute for Strategic Studies later today.

He will, however, reveal the other additional questions he has set a high level team of senior officers.

The results of this review, under Lieutenant General Nick Carter, are expected to be published at the end of April.

They could lead to some head scratching, even horror, among old-fashioned army buffs.

Does Britain need the five infantry brigades which the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) called for?

Does it make sense to try to prepare to fight one sustained war, a short intervention and a police-type operation?

Should it be set up to fight an 'enduring' operation like Iraq and Afghanistan at all?

Should the Army be concentrating its manpower in super garrisons like Colchester and Catterick when it will have to rely on high end skills from the TA whose members need to train close to home?

The shift in doctrine likely to be thrown up by these questions, raised as they are by a general with operational battlefield command behind him, will demonstrate a change from an army capable of campaigning, to one prepared for a huge range of contingencies.

Although the cuts faced by the Army are deep it is unlikely that it will face a bout of regimental mergers because the survival of regimental 'cap badges' has been guaranteed by political edict from Number 10.

Insiders suggest that Lt Gen Carter's review may favour a greater role in exercising 'soft power', influence overseas through training.

And while the SDSR envisaged five multi-purpose brigades, Lt Gen Carter is likely to favour establishing the Army with two heavy brigades and two light.

Part of his answer to Sir Peter's question is that the Army should be a deterrent - that it should signal that, whatever else, it can still kill on a significant scale.

Full story from Sky news .

BSkyB To Create 1,300 Jobs As Profits Climb

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The company, which owns Sky News, reported a 28% rise in operating profit to £597m, compared to £467m in the same period a year ago.

Revenues grew 6% over the six months to December 31 to £3.36bn.

The group plans to create 1,300 jobs across the UK and Ireland over the next two years.

The number of subscribers to Sky's television, broadband and telephone packages rose by 100,000 over the period to 10.5 million, with more than three million customers subscribing to all three services.

BSkyB said it also managed to retain a strong base of existing customers through its price freeze, as households faced increased pressure from higher utility bills.

Chief executive Jeremy Darroch said: "While these are tough times for many consumers, our customers are staying loyal and more households continue to join us."

Sky announced a deal with the BBC and ITV on Monday, allowing its customers to watch on-demand content from iPlayer and ITV Player directly on their televisions through Anytime+.

It now plans to launch a web-based pay television service aimed at new customers, and will dedicate a full channel to Formula One racing - the second biggest sport in terms of global viewers.

Meanwhile, advertising revenue at Sky fell 6% year-on-year with terrestrial networks gaining a higher share.

"Cyclically in advertising, we tend to do less well in the final quarter of the year," Mr Darroch told Sky News.

"And that is a time from an advertising point of view when the free-to-air channels tend to do a lot better.

"But we're growing our share of the advertising market - we did so in 2011, I don't see any reason why that will change in 2012."

He added that the subscription model was in fact one of the strengths of the business as it allowed the company to take a longer-term view.

"Something like Formula One for example, we'll choose not to show any adverts during the race, and that'll cost us a bit of money but we think that's the right decision in terms of customer quality and the viewing experience."

Full story from Sky news .

McDonald's To Create 2,500 New Jobs This Year

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More than half of the posts are expected to go to people under the age of 25 while an estimated 30% will go to first time workers.

It will take McDonalds' UK workforce to 90,000, and comes after the creation of another 13,500 new jobs over the last three years.

The fast food giant has expanded its business with new restaurants, extended opening hours and the roll-out of new technology. Many outlets have also undergone major refurbishment.

There are now over 1,200 restaurants across Britain and Ireland, serving an estimated 2.5 million customers every day.

The majority (2,135) of the new jobs announced on Tuesday will be in England. Some 190 will be in Scotland while there will be 125 in Wales and 50 in Northern Ireland.

With unemployment at a 17-year high and particularly prevalent among young people, the announcement was welcomed by the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

Ahead of a visit to McDonald's training centre in East Finchley, London, Mr Clegg said:

"It is fantastic news that McDonald's is creating 2,500 new jobs in the UK - and that over half of these posts will go to young people."

He praised the chain for its "excellent reputation for developing its staff with training and apprenticeship programmes."

"It's a telling fact that half of McDonald's current board have progressed from the shop floor to the top floor, having started their careers serving customers in the restaurant," the deputy prime minister added.

McDonald's UK CEO Jill McDonald said: "Today's jobs market is particularly tough for young people so it remains vital that these jobs continue to offer great training programmes that teach valued, transferable skills that will give them a solid footing on the career ladder and help them to progress their careers with us or other employers.

Full story from Sky news .

Asda's £500m Expansion Creates 5,000 New Jobs

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The UK's second biggest supermarket will open 25 stores, refurbish 43 existing outlets and invest in three new depots during the course of 2012.

The retailer currently employs more than 180,000 people and runs 528 stores across the country.

Asda, which is owned by the world's biggest retailer, US firm Walmart, will now increase its selling space by 600,000ft sq.

It follows big expansion last year, which saw Asda open about a dozen new stores and take on Danish discount store Netto, absorbing 147 sites and their staff.

With unemployment at its highest level in 17 years, the announcement was welcomed by Prime Minister David Cameron.

He said: "The additional investment and 5,000 new jobs announced by Asda today will be a real boost for the economy and more importantly for people around Britain seeking jobs."

The majority of the new Asda stores will be small supermarkets but there will also be a handful of superstores and non-food outlets.

Among others, outlets are planned in Bootle in Merseyside, Coventry, Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, Harworth in Nottinghamshire and Mitcham in London.

There will also be new stores in Scotland and Wales.

Meanwhile, a new depot will be built in Rochdale, an older ones replaced in Grangemouth, Falkirk and the former Netto site in South Elmsall, Yorkshire, revamped.
The announcement came as Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, prepared to wind up its stand-alone furnishing chain Home Plus.

After weak sales at the warehouse-style outlets in retail parks, Tesco is understood to be regrouping and focusing on its core grocery business.

The embattled supermarket giant had its worst Christmas trading period in decades and warned that trading profits for its 2012/13 financial year would be flat.

The news sent shockwaves through the retail industry.

Asda has yet to issue an update on its Christmas trading period.

Full story from Sky News.

RECRUIT FOR SPOUSES

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Recruit For Spouses has been set up to bridge the gap between national employers and a growing band of service spouses who are seeking to re-enter the workplace, after subjugating their careers due to their partners’ numerous postings and frequent deployment.
The company has benefited from funding and support from the Women’s Section of the Royal British Legion and the web development skills of international digital agency, STEAK. The founder, Heledd Kendrick (herself an Army spouse and mother of two young children) who has been developing the concept for over two years, said that it had been “a long but worthwhile journey bringing the site to its launch this month”. She continued, “One of the hardest things about being married to a soldier, sailor or airman, is the constant moving around; rendering it almost impossible to find a job. Employers perceive service spouses as being too transient to make a worthwhile contribution to their organisations. However we’re here to prove otherwise – be it short term, contracts, flexi working, job-sharing, full-time employment or virtual (online) work”.

Kendrick will be introducing potential employers to over 400 registered candidates from a diverse background, and who count skills and trades such as accountancy, HR experts, lawyers and PAs among their numbers. STEAK has created a sleek web design, which makes it simple for employers and spouses to register their vacancies and CVs.
A nominal charge will be made to employers (significantly less than most recruitment agencies) and profits from the venture will be ploughed back into service charities, fully embracing the much talked about military covenant.

Recruit for Spouses already has partnered with both British Telecom, Siemens and Golly Slater providing a range of opportunities for service wives and has established a meaningful dialogues with the regional Chambers of Commerce, resulting in the North East Chamber of Commerce advocating the initiative to their 4000 members.

New £250m village for site of former airbase

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The proposals for a £250million sustainable community have now been submitted to Aberdeenshire Council.

The family business behind the scheme said the major building project will create hundreds of jobs in the area.

The new village, Newesk, is planned for land on the former United States military base at RAF Edzell.

Full story from The Press and Journal .

Ryanair To Create 1,000 Jobs This Year

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The new posts will be a mixture of cabin crew, pilots, engineers and sales roles and based across Europe, primarily in the UK, Denmark, Poland, Spain and Cyprus.

The move will swell the no-frills airline's 8,000-strong staff by almost 10% and increase its fleet from 270 to 305 aircraft, a rise of 13%.

Ryanair said recruitment will focus on workers from the UK and Ireland, Slovakia, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Spain and Italy.

But none of the positions will be located in Ireland, the airline's home, where the economic outlook remains gloomy.

The Dublin-based company said this was because of high airport charges and travel taxes.

Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said: "While Ryanair has grown rapidly to become the No.1 airline in Spain, Italy, the UK and many other EU countries, we continue to reduce flights, traffic and job numbers here in Ireland, where the DAA monopoly airports are totally uncompetitive.

"Even Aer Lingus has described Dublin Airport's fees as 'insane'."

He added: "Ryanair believes that Ireland can return to strong traffic, tourism and jobs growth.

"But only when the new government delivers on its promise to scrap the tourist tax, reduce the DAA's high airport charges to competitive levels, to put Ireland back in the market as a low cost tourist destination, and end the failed policy of protecting the high cost, traffic declining DAA airport monopoly."

Ryanair has said it expects its total traffic to grow from 76 million passengers in 2011 to 80 million in 2012.

Last year, it carried more international scheduled passengers than any other airline, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Story from Sky News

MoD announces details of 4,200 job cuts

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The Army will see up to 2,900 job cuts, including 400 Gurkhas, while the RAF will lose up to 1,000 members and the Royal Navy up to 300.

The job losses will account for some of the cuts announced under the defence review - intended to help plug a £38bn hole in the defence budget.

Ministers said there was "no choice" but to axe the posts.

Under the terms of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, announced in 2010, the navy and the RAF have to cut 5,000 jobs each by 2015, the Army 7,000 and the Ministry of Defence 25,000 civilian staff. A first tranche of redundancies was announced in 2011.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the government had "no choice but to reduce the size of the armed forces - while reconfiguring them to ensure they remain agile, adaptable and effective".

Mr Hammond said: "As we continue with the redundancy process we will ensure we retain the capabilities that our armed forces will require to meet the challenges of the future."

Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said mass redundancies would be of "deep concern" across the country.

Mr Murphy said Labour agreed there was a need for cuts to the defence budget but warned the plans announced were "wrong-headed and rushed".

He said: "Savings must be made and Britain will need to confront global threats with leaner, more advanced armed forces in future.

"The most important baseline, however, is national security and we worry these cuts are wrong-headed and rushed. We need to know the full military impact of losing such important capability."

Trainee pilots

In 2011 further reductions were identified for the regular Army, as the government sought to put greater emphasis on military reserves. Its total fighting force needs to drop from around 100,000 to 82,000 by 2020.

The current round of redundancies affects private soldiers through to the senior ranks - with eight brigadiers and 60 lieutenant colonels being made redundant.

The navy will lose five commodores, 17 captains and 19 Royal Marine officers. In the RAF, up to 15 air commodores and 30 group captains will be among the posts to be cut.

Military planners had already singled out the 3,500-strong Gurkha brigade for job cuts, arguing they were overmanned.

The loss of about 400 Gurkha personnel announced on Tuesday follows an estimated 140 cuts to the brigade during the first wave of MoD cuts last year.

Major Tikendra Dal Dewan, chairman of the British Gurkha Welfare Society, said the news was saddening.

He said: "What we don't understand is why we have lost around 140 men in the first tranche and now we are losing another 400 when we have just 3,500 but the infantry, which has tens of thousands [of personnel], are only losing 500 across the board."

The Gurkhas, based at Shorncliffe in Kent, have been part of the British Army for more than half a century.

Following the partition of India in 1947, an agreement between Nepal, India and Britain meant four Gurkha regiments from the Indian Army were transferred to the British Army, eventually becoming the Gurkha Brigade.

The Royal Air Force is not seeking to make trainee pilots redundant, or to cut pilots at ranks below group captain level.

Both the Royal Navy and the RAF expect this to be their last round of redundancies, with natural wastage and a recruitment freeze in some areas making up for the rest.

Story from BBC News .

MOD Pledges Millions To Service Children's Education

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A total of 139 schools from across the United Kingdom have shared the first £3m allocated under the Support for State Schools Fund.

It is one of the key commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant, the principles of which were enshrined in law last year, and builds on the promises in education for the Armed Forces Community already made as part of the Armed Forces Covenant.

The Support for State Schools Fund was started by the MOD in 2011 and will run for four years.

The following are examples of projects which have received funding in the first round of grants:

• Thirteen schools in the Helensburgh and Lomond area will benefit from £147,000 that has been awarded to Argyll and Bute Council. The money will help to prevent disruption to learning by providing short-term support to Service children while they settle into their new surroundings.

• Harestock Primary School in Winchester has been awarded a grant of £40,000 to help fund a support worker to act as the focal point for Service families within the school, counselling for Service families with an absent parent, and materials for welcome packs to support the integration of recently-arrived Service families into the school community.

• A further £17,500 has been given to fund a Senior Transitions Officer (STO) to benefit all Scottish local authorities affected by the rebasing announcements. The application, which was put forward by the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, will support the secondment of a STO with the primary purpose of supporting all Service children and families moving school into, within or out of Scotland to ensure the effective, co-ordinated transition of pupils while maintaining pupils' attainments and achievements.

• St Athan Primary School in Wales was awarded a grant of just under £10,000 to further support the good work taking place in the school regarding development of literacy skills.

• South Farnborough Infant School in Hampshire has been offered just under £3,000 to support a scheme to improve communication with deployed parents. The scheme will loan pupils, whose parent or parents have deployed, netbooks so that they can keep in touch via Skype. The school anticipates improved social and emotional resilience from this group through the scheme.

Lynda Fisher, Director of the MOD's Children and Young People Directorate, said:

"We know that moving from one school to another can be a challenging time for the children of serving personnel and this £3m fund has been set up to help mitigate some of the effects of moving away from familiar surroundings.

"The money will allow schools to provide measures to ensure children of Service families do not suffer any disadvantage by moving to or through different school systems.

"It was pleasing to see the interesting and varied projects that local authorities, academies and schools with Service children are already putting in place to help cope with the potential impact caused by deployment."

Story from MOD Oracle.

Refitted Darlington hotel create 50 new jobs

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The Cairn Hotel Group has spent £3m renovating the former Scotch Corner Hotel on the junction of the A1 and the A66, near Darlington.

The newly-named Holiday Inn Darlington A1 Scotch Corner will be officially opened on 19 January.

The original hotel was built in 1939 on the site of a 16th Century coach inn.

Full story taken from BBC News.