BAE SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES 200 JOB LOSSES IN ITS UK LAND SYSTEMS BUSINESS

BAE SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES 200 JOB LOSSES IN ITS UK LAND SYSTEMS BUSINESS

20 Nov 2008 | Ref. 287/2008

Newcastle, United Kingdom. - BAE Systems today announced the loss of up to 200 jobs in its land systems business in the UK. The job losses will mainly affect sites at Newcastle, Leeds, Leicester, Barrow and Telford. The plan is to open a voluntary redundancy programme immediately, alongside a period of consultation with trade unions and other employee representatives. These job losses are the result of a decline in workload on the UK Ministry of Defence’s Armoured Fighting Vehicle programmes.

David Allott, Managing Director of BAE Systems Land Systems said: “BAE Systems has been working with the UK MOD, in line with the Defence Industrial Strategy, to build a long-term, sustainable land systems business and transform its UK operations to better meet the needs of the front line. We are well down this track in our Munitions business where we have a long-term partnering agreement in place with our customer to guarantee security of supply at lower cost.

“In the armoured vehicle sector, we are looking to match our internal planning to potential long-term work load and this has led us to these job losses.

“We recognise the impact these job losses will have on our employees and the communities in which we operate and we always aim to mitigate as much as possible the impact of losses by offering voluntary redundancy where we can, as well as re-skilling and re-training people for alternative roles. We have been able to postpone this decision due to high workload on meeting urgent operational requirements, but that activity is now tailing off.”

BAE Systems will continue to review the business and its industrial footprint in light of the UK MOD's ongoing requirements. This review will take into account current and future programmes, in particular, the FRES and Warrior programmes.

BAE Systems is the design authority for over 90 per cent of the UK’s armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) fleet. Through an AFV partnering agreement with the UK MOD, signed in December 2005 as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy, the company has been working closely and transparently with the UK MOD to manage and maintain a sustainable industrial capability to design, manufacture, support and upgrade armoured vehicles.

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