British announce shift of DE&S posts

LONDON, July 21 (UPI) -- British defense officials announced plans to shift 2,800 posts in a move to support the armed forces with efficient delivery of defense equipment and support.

Baroness Ann Taylor, British minister for Defense Equipment and Support, announced as many as 2,800 posts will be transferred from Bath and Cambridgeshire, England, to the Abbey Wood operations in Bristol, England.

The move is part of a larger Defense Equipment and Support transformation and consolidation to support British troops more efficiently.

"Defense Equipment and Support currently operates from more than 60 bases in the United Kingdom, and centralizing acquisition activities at Abbey Wood reflects the Ministry of Defense's commitment to maximizing funds available to our military," Gen. Sir Kevin O'Donoghue, chief of defense materiel, said in a statement.

"By the end of phase I of the project, we will already have successfully moved around 1,000 posts from Andover to Abbey Wood, Bristol, and I am convinced additional improvements to the provision of through-life military capability and logistics support to the front line can be realized through greater consolidation of Defense Equipment and Support business activities."