I'm not going to bite on this one as it's been done to death before on the pensions thread and this thread. *yawn*.:yuk:

I am detecting severe sense of humour failures in this thread and don't want to be dragged in :cool:

Starbucks also do cappucinos, espressos, and even tea!

RS

I'm sick to the ******* back teeth of all you ***** on here at each others throats. It's divide and rule, and it shouldn't be.

Anyone reading this thread will see us as a bunch of petty, childish spoilt, self serving fools. All of us. I'm not pointing fingers.

It's embarrassing. Sort yourselves out.

I get the feeling I've suggested similar things before

http://www.pprune.org/atc-issues/344...ml#post4444025

My question was genuine. Honestly !

I have little or no interest in anything at work besides ATC, my colleagues and friends. I come in, do my job as well as I can, go home, and enjoy my family life. It may come as a shock to some at CTC, but the truth is, us ATC types are not really intersested in what goes on at CTC, I am just trying to find out !

ok quick google..............

NATS to expand Hampshire technical centre - NATS

National Air Traffic Services (NATS) is to almost double the size of its new Corporate & Technical Centre (CTC) at Whiteley, near Fareham in Hampshire.
At the official opening today of the first stage of the CTC, NATS will confirm an agreement with developers Arlington Securities, on behalf of the Arlington Business Park Partnership, to add two more buildings on the site at Solent Business Park.
These will house development engineering staff and systems moving from West Drayton and Gatwick, bringing NATS’ total CTC population to around 1,400. Together with more than 1,000 staff employed four miles away at the London Area Control Centre in Swanwick, the extended CTC will make NATS the biggest employer in the Fareham area and one of the ten largest employers in Hampshire.
Paul Barron, Chief Executive, said: “NATS is making pioneering moves to put it at the forefront of European air traffic management. We are now well into implementing a £1bn investment programme which includes new systems, new centres and a new way of working for our people. The CTC is key to delivering that.
“We’re delighted to have the first stage of the CTC up and running, with almost 750 people already relocated from sites across the UK. The CTC will be the nerve centre of our engineering prowess and we look forward to the second stage which will finally bring our development engineers together, under one roof, for the first time.”
The CTC is a critical pillar of NATS’ strategy to consolidate its operations and streamline its business. It provides bespoke accommodation for NATS’ engineering departments, previously split between five sites across the UK, to meet the complex and technologically demanding challenges of the business.
When complete, it will bring together most of the company’s project engineering staff and their equipment, and staff involved in strategic systems development work. It will also house simulators used for training operational Air Traffic Controllers, and provide operational support to the Swanwick Centre and the new Prestwick Centre currently under construction in Ayrshire.
The first three interlinked buildings of the CTC took just 18 months to complete and provide 130,000sq ft of space. The second stage will add two further buildings providing 127,000sq ft. Construction is expected to get under way in November for handover to NATS by early 2006 for systems installation and testing before staff move in.

Sounds impressive :ok: At least I got the staff numbers correct!

A true comment and nobody would dispute.

That is a very naive, stupid comment...and a little offensive. Also it is a sign that you have little or no appreciation of what operational staff do. It is not a 'break' nor do we 'enjoy' it. It is a legal requirement, often a real annoyance that gets in the way, but we all understand the real neccessity for it.
Every ATCO has worked for longer and a lot harder for their position than ANYONE at CTC...notice there is a world shortage of ATCO's? Do you think that is the same for Managerial staff and the job you do?...id bet my NATS pension on it not being the same.....actually, maybe i should bet something that will be worth something in a few years...

1400 staff at CTC? Says it all really here in my understaffed ops room north of the border we've come to the conclusion that NATS these days is really style over substance. Your jobs are safe, Paul Barron needs people around him who know as much about shifting traffic as he does.

Todays announcements
 

Well anyone from Swanwick or the Ctc wanna share what has happened in work today? Email says the affected areas have been spoken to... Anyone know where or who?

What email? Can you elaborate? I was only in till 10am today...

E-mail sent to Swanwick staff if I remember rightly.... entitled "Swanwick voluntary redundancies". Contained an attachment whereby you could apply for VR if you so wish.

I'm afraid I don't remember which groups of staff it was sent to, ie ops/non ops; ATSAs/ATCOs.

The company wide email didn't specify, but particular areas we were told in breifings (if i recall correctly?!?) about where Asset Engineering, ESD H24 centres engineers and ATSAs.

I can't talk for the ops areas affected, but for AE we have seen a lot of LTIP resource demand slip to the right into CP3 to make CP2 costs drop. Hence now the headcount is higher than forecast demand. Hence the voluntary redundancy request in our area - I assume the ops areas are due to expected reduction in demand due to centre merging and new system introductions, but that is only an assumption.

RS

In addition to my previous post, for clarification, the e-mail I'm referring to was sent/received at approx. 2pm today (4th Feb).

NERL ATSA's got an e-mail looking for 22 VRs from across both Ops rooms (AC & TC)

Form a queue to leave this :mad: company while you can

Any other groups affected ?

Why the f**k are we running two NATS with 2 boards, paying fat cat salaries. One NATS needs one board of directors, get rid of this duplication as well as the duplication in the managerial levels beneath the board...and before long we'll hit that £35m saving mark :ok:
And with the multi-strata managerial system, all they do is shuffle paper up from the lower levels to the uppr levels and back down again. Take Heathrow;

GM is the main man. Up until recently the Manager ATC was the next leveldown, followed by Watch managers. Now the MATC is joined by a Business Support Manager. What the heck does he do that the GM and MATC cant do? They really need to pull their finger our and cut the fat where it ought to be cut - not the operational and support staff that keeo the good ship NATS a-sailing!

Not to mention the people above GMs - what bloody purpose to the GCAMs (Group Contract Account Managers?) serve? Account managers? when did we become a f**king sales organisations.

ATC..I say again...ATC is what we do - lets get our house in order (OR being met for example) before we chase the pipedreams of foreign contracts and whatnot. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

This is a sad day that I think that anyone who had been listening for the last few months was dreading. We have seen the first move in redundancies in the company. They are not just non operational staff but also operational. As people have said - our business is ATC and staff who are in the operation and the support areas that make the operation work are now been asked to volunteer to leave.

Still as some on this thread have said:

"It is not arrogant to expect the company (who when it suits claims times are hard) to look at roles and decide which ones are really necessary and which can be dropped.

It is not arrogant to say that if the company wants to tighten it's belt then we should ensure that we only employ people making a meaningful contribution."


So that is alright then:(

Agreed....A VERY SAD DAY FOR NATS, EVEN SADDER FOR THOSE WHO JUST WANT TO SHIFT TRAFFIC! THAT USED TO BE WHAT NATS WAS ALL ABOUT, BUT NOT ANY MORE. :=

E-mails asking for VR applications were sent to targetted groups. The ones identified in our meeting, which I think was the same one that Radarspod went to, were Swanwick ATSAs, Asset Engineering, Programmes, Engineering Service Delivery H24 and Technical Services which includes Operational Research and Quality Assurance. Seems to be about 10% in most of those groups although the exact numbers were restricted to each e-mail so nobody can easily work out how many in total.

It is indeed a sad day but managers are anxious to stress it isn't bad news. Apparently it's an opportunity for all those who may wish to take advantage of it

autothrottle has nearly got it right!
Shifting traffic is what we do.
ATC is how we do it safely

All very well, but what about MY pay rise, after all it's no secret managment always made it clear the ATSAS would go with the introduction of new technology, i'm sure most have spent the last few years updating you skills base. You did didn't you?

Luv pringles - okay i'll bite - I really hope you have your tongue in your cheek and have gone for the trenches.

Probably the same managent that have all but destroyed NATS. With any luck there will be a clearout of all the idiots in suits together with the layers of dross posing at my unit, and the remaining 49% of NATS is taken from them and given back to HMG:mad:

OHHHH Pringles....