Transformation and investment programme announced

‘We are not immune to the external financial pressures facing everyone today. The fall in the value of sterling coupled with government requirements to reduce costs have hit our finances. We must adapt to these realities if we are to safeguard and grow our ever more valuable cultural relations work overseas in the arts, education, governance, science and sport,’ said the British Council’s Chief Executive, Martin Davidson.

The major drop in the value of sterling has resulted in a tens of millions of pounds reduction in the British Council’s 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 centres on a voluntary early retirement scheme for permanent staff, which was announced today, and will also include a significant reduction in temporary staff and contractors. The British Council will see the loss of between 400-500 jobs in the organisation’s UK operations over the next two years; approx a third of the UK workforce.

The organisation also expects to reduce the number of posts overseas by several hundred. The transformation programme will create leaner, lighter administrative and back-office functions and more effective global support services. We are planning to rationalise our five 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. A final decision has not yet been made on the location or where jobs will be lost. The British Council will retain five offices in the UK. We have been consulting with staff and the PCS union on the transformation programme over recent months.

At the same time, the British Council announced plans to invest money generated from its English and exams business 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.

For more information, please visit www.britishcouncil.org or call the press office on 020 7389 4987

View PDF of press statement

Notes to editors

Marking 75 years in 2009, the British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.

We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

We work in the arts, education, science, sport, governance and climate change.

Last year over 128 million people benefited from our projects.

We are a non-political charitable organisation which operates at arm’s length from government.

Our total income in 2007/8 was £565 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £197 million.

For every pound of grant we receive, we generate an additional £1.92.