After announcing that it was going to double its job cuts it’s emerged that BT has spent million of pounds taking staff on foreign trips as a reward for their performance, reports The Sunday Telegraph.

BT announced recently that it was to cut 30,000 jobs and announced that for the first time it had suffered only its second-ever full year loss. However, despite all this, the telecoms giant still found the money to take 150 sales staff and their partners on a trip costing £1m, to the south of France.

The trip will not have pleased the majority of BT’s staff and a spokesperson for the Communication Workers Union said “Our members will find it difficult to understand BT’s spending on this event when they have seen severe cost cutting measures affecting their terms and conditions. Spending £1million on a selected few managers appears baffling at this time.”

And even though BT is trying to save another £500m, making total savings £1.5bn – the firm is still planning to take another 150 staff and their partners to Turkey next year. The Sunday Telegraph reports that the trip will cost around £7,000 per person.

BT responded by saying that it was common practice to reward staff who bring in substantial revenues. However, the Sunday Telegraph reports that many of the staff taken on the trips are members of the Global Services division, which had write downs of £1.6bn after managers overestimated the value of contracts won by the sales team.

This business telecom story was brought to you by Utility Exchange. Saving Time, Money and Energy for your Business.

Source and further details: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/6679255/BT-criticised-for-splashing-out-on-foreign-trips-while-cost-cutting.html

British Service personnel deployed in Afghanistan will receive an extra hour’s free talk time to phone family and friends this Christmas – Operational troops currently get 30 minutes of free talk time every week from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) which is then used to call home to speak to loved ones. Furthermore, during this festive period, troops are going to receive an additional 30 minutes of free talk time from communications company Paradigm. Troops also receive unlimited access to the internet and can send emails.

Bob Ainsworth, Secretary of State for Defence, said:

“This is one, very small way that we can thank those members of the Armed Forces for putting themselves at risk in defence of Britain’s national interest”

The MOD’s 30 free minutes will be added to troops’ Paradigm account cards on Sunday 20 December 2009 and the additional Paradigm 30 minutes will then be topped up on Sunday 27 December 2009.

Flight Lieutenant Andy Wilson is responsible for managing the MOD’s requirement for welfare communications and added:

“Christmas can be a difficult time for the troops and their families and we hope that this goes some way in making this separation a little easier…

… Communication is vital to the morale of our personnel and the well-being of their loved ones at home, especially around this time of year”

Talk time forms part of the WelComE (Welfare Communications Everywhere) project – allowing troops to keep in touch with family and friends whilst they are serving away.

This business telecom story was brought to you by Utility Exchange. Saving Time, Money and Energy for your Business.

Source;
HMGOV (Twitter) mod.uk/ Defence News (Extra hour of free Christmas phone calls for deployed troops-30.11.09)

Unicom, specialist provider of business to business communication products and services, is launching a Community Support Scheme – offering funding for community organisations around its ten regional offices – Manchester, Nottingham, Crawley, Milton Keynes, Ipswich, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Leeds and Sheffield.

The scheme is inviting applications from community groups based in the above mentioned regions which support disadvantaged people, promote sport and the arts, support education and development and those helping the environment.

Chris Earle, Unicom’s Operations Director, is eager to see the communication company give something back to the community, stating:

“Our ongoing success means we are able to offer financial support to some of the excellent community initiatives which make the towns and cities where Unicom is based a better place to live…

… Many of these groups rely on the dedication and commitment of volunteers and we hope to assist those most in need of funding to continue providing essential community services”

This business telecom story was brought to you by Utility Exchange. Saving Time, Money and Energy for your Business.

Source;
Comms-dealer.co.uk/ Industry News (Article; Unicom launches community support scheme-30.11.09)