Transformation and Investment Programme 2009
The British Council today announced a two-year transformation and investment programme to ensure the UK’s cultural relations body remains efficient, delivers value for money and can rapidly respond to a new external environment post-recession. The programme will see the loss of between 400-500 jobs in the organisation’s UK operations over the next two years.
In a letter to staff, Martin Davidson, Chief Executive, said that the British Council’s work worldwide has been under significant pressure: ‘The drop in the value of sterling resulted in a tens of millions of pounds reduction in our purchasing power overseas.’ Like many public bodies, the organisation has also been living with reductions in its government grant as well as more recent efficiency cuts.
The transformation programme includes a voluntary early retirement scheme for permanent staff, which was announced today, and will also include a significant reduction in temporary staff and contractors. In total the organisation expects to reduce the number of posts overseas by several hundred and in the UK by between 400 and 500 over the next two years. The transformation programme will create leaner, lighter administrative and back-office functions and more effective global support services. Consideration is also being given to the rationalisation of overseas finance hubs in Warsaw, Mexico, Beijing, Delhi and the UK into one centre, as well as plans for a centre of excellence in the UK. The British Council will retain five offices in the UK – Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Manchester and Northern Ireland – although the number of posts in each of these locations is not yet known.
At the same time, the British Council announced that it is looking for new ways to deliver future projects and programmes with and through partners to achieve greater scale and impact. The organisation plans to invest tens of millions over the next two years in new work and programmes that offer more opportunities for activity with partners in the arts, education, governance, science and sport as well as significantly growing work in English language teaching, notably in Asia.
Martin Davidson acknowledged that ‘the business transformation programme would be a difficult process for people and the organisation as a whole’, but said the organisation’s ambitions would only be met by making the changes.
He added that: ‘The UK economy relies heavily on international trade, inward investment and the UK’s export of knowledge and ideas. So the UK must be well regarded internationally and it needs institutions and people – and especially for the future, young people - who are outward looking. To meet the challenges of our times we are determined to grow cultural relations, and to do that we must change some of the ways we do business.’
