17/01/2017 Look East (West)

In the programme tonight, life after the front line.

Are businesses doing enough to help former servicemen

The service person leaving the forces wants another career.

They could have that person for many years to come,

They just need to give them a chance.

One of our train operators sells a 40% stake to a Japanese

investor, but what does it mean for passengers?

A crack in the ice closes a research station in Antarctica.

We talk to the Cambridge team that runs the centre.

And a satellite from Stevenage blasting into space to help

First tonight, are businesses doing enough to support servicemen

The BBC has discovered that just 58 companies in our region have signed

up to the Armed Forces Covenant, a government promise to look

after servicemen after they have served their queen and country.

In our region, Hertfordshire has the most companies,

but there are only six in Milton Keynes, and just

Emma Baugh has been to meet some of those trying

Para-ice hockey in Peterborough with Stuart, who lost a leg

Now he's trying to help others make the transition from

It's not easy, even for an able-bodied person.

You lose a whole network of support, once you leave the forces.

And you're suddenly left with nothing.

And that's exactly what happened to Daniel Johnson Morris,

who felt let down when he left the Army three years ago,

with mental health problems, no job, and no home.

I went into one of the hospitals in Peterborough.

I was literally in one room, on my own, two single

And I was just keeping myself to myself.

The only time I went out was to go and see my two boys.

Here in Peterborough, they're trying to get more companies

to take on ex-service people, and they can get support

from the government, if they sign the Armed Forces Covenant.

But, for now, out of 3,000 companies in the city,

At this drop-in session, they're trying to link

But with so few signing the covenant, it's hard.

I'm disappointed on the fact that a lot of companies

They are looking at an array of different backgrounds,

different trades, different skills that all three services

The service person that's leaving the forces wants another career.

They could have that person for many years to come,

They just need to give them the chance.

But one of the companies which have signed up is Anglian Water,

who found how employing ex-servicemen and women has

In the last three months alone, we've had nine employees

that we've hired with service backgrounds.

And we find that they're just amazing people.

They've got brilliant skill sets that are really transferable

They have health and safety, they have supply chain,

and they have engineering and practical requirements

So, that's absolutely brilliant for us, too.

It's all about getting them more integrated into civilian life.

Because, as any ex-forces person will tell you,

forces life is completely different to civilian life.

It's hoped that by giving people a chance, it might mean the nation

lives up to its promise of looking after those who served

So, how applicable are skills gained in the military to civilian life?

Earlier, I spoke to the head of a company that specialises

in placing former services personnel into jobs.

Here's what Adam Bonner had to say about transferable skills.

The key thing with service personnel is personal attributes.

It's the attributes they develop during their service careers.

So, when you think about things like leadership,

conflict resolution, and motivating teams,

and dealing with difficult and sometimes hostile situations,

those sorts of attributes can be very well placed in the workplace,

in dealing with team issues and conflict within teams.

And, often, it's one of the key things that is

I suppose we hear quite a lot, don't we, about conditions

like post-traumatic stress disorder, and we see the physical evidence

of war in some people leaving the services.

I suppose some companies might worry they can't support those people.

They might shy away from giving them a chance.

I think, quite often within the media, the area

of the services and the area of service leavers that gets

the primary focus are those that are either disadvantaged

or currently undergoing some form of treatment for either physical

It forgets about the larger proportion of service leavers

who are coming out who are highly qualified, highly mobile and able

and ready to get into the workplace, who have immediately

It's not just down to businesses, though, is it?

What's the military doing to prepare people for life outside?

So, the Careers Transition Partnership are an organisation that

are funded by the MoD to support service leavers as they transfer

But, of course, it is not the quickest process in the world.

It is not as proactive as it could be.

And there are organisations, like ourselves, that understand,

as business owners, what an SME, what a commercial organisation

needs to have, and why they need to have it.

And, so, we can work with them to proactively engage with the right

people and put them in place to ensure the value

is added to the employer as quickly as possible.

And if you run a business and want more information

about the Armed Services Covenant you can find more details

on the website, the details are on the screen now.

Next tonight, it's been announced that a Japanese investor is to take

a 40% stake in train operator Abellio.

They run trains from Kings Lynn, Cambridge and Stansted

to London Liverpool Street, as well as between Peterborough,

The operator says the partnership with Mitsui will lead

to "significant improvements" for passengers, but

Worth ?1.4 billion, it's been just three months since the Dutch firm

Abellio began the nine-year franchise that promise to transform

Rob transport across the region for passengers. To deliver its pledge,

it sold 40% of the franchise to the Japanese company Mitsui, a fair deal

for stakeholders and customers, says one rail expert. All these companies

who have come in for the medium and long-term franchises bringing money

with them. Naturally, they expect a return on it and we're told it

averages about 6%, no more than that. That isn't big-money buy any

commercial standards. So nobody is being ripped off, so to speak. Every

day, the service carries 250,000 passengers from London Liverpool

Street to Cambridge, Norwich, Peterborough, and Ipswich. In a

multi-million pound investment, the rail operator says it will replace

more than 1,000 carriages with more seats and faster services by 2020

and ?60 million will be spent on improving stations, including

Cambridge. The investment could cut average journey times by 10%. Unions

say it simply shows that a chunk of Britain's rail network is up for

grabs. It makes a mockery of the tendering process. Tendering process

is quite tough, if they satisfy safety, customer satisfaction, and

reliability. And we have this company, come in out of the blue,

never been in the process and they are buying up 40% of the company.

Who will we have next? Sports Direct getting involved? Japan introduced

the world famous bullet train but it is unlikely those sorts of speeds

will be seen in this country any time soon.

As you may have seen on the national news,

Prime Minister Theresa May says Britain cannot remain

So, where does that leave businesses here who export to the EU?

Peter Cooke has been to a government event promoting exports

at Silverstone today to gauge the mood.

In uncertain times, an opportunity to support the UK economy

by exploring new ways to expand businesses.

The Export Hub is a Department for International Trade initiative

It offers advice and support for companies about access

But how much should today's Brexit announcement about leaving

the European single market concern them?

We still want to export goods worldwide.

And we will have to cope with whatever changes are ahead of us.

And our mantra, our objective, is to make sure our businesses

are prepared for whatever changes are ahead of us to cope

and adapt, and to win in the international markets.

Silverstone Park provides space and other facilities for businesses.

And here there's some confidence moving forward.

When people talk abouts things like Brexit, and uncertainty,

actually, I think uncertainty's the new norm.

And that's been the message on the platform at events

like the Auto Sports Show, and with the export event

here today, companies will need to get used to uncertainty

and still forge on and focus on their high-tech activity,

and what they have to offer as very exciting R cutting-edge

One local company, which exports up to 70% of its products,

Bear in mind the needs of businesss in the UK to be able to export

things like administration and, you know, keeping up with rules

and regulations, tariffs, those sorts of things will be

what determines whether we can successfully transition

into the new status quo that we have in the future.

Two of the Prime Minister's priorities include tariff-free trade

But how many concessions she gets for these during the Brexit

Cambridgeshire Police are investigating a multiple

They say at least three people are in hospital with serious but not

life threatening injuries and four people have been arrested.

It happened in the Wentworth Street area of Peterborough at around

A British research station based on a floating ice shelf

in Antarctica is to close for winter amid safety concerns.

The Halley centre, run by Cambridge based British Antarctic Survey,

is to close until November as a "precautionary measure" due

to changes in the ice as Louise Hubball explains.

For decades, there has been a research station

here on the floating Brunt ice shelf to study the impact

Always an inhospitable landscape, a huge ice crack meant the Halley

But now the appearance of this second crack means it's too

unpredictable for scientists to stay beyond the end of next month.

We've been wintering there since the 1950s,

so it's a very unusual decision for us to take the people out over

So, to make sure our people are safe when it's dark,

when we can't get an aircraft in very easily to pick them up,

Currently, 88 people work here but many scientists

The research in this aquarium furthers our

This sun star grows much more slowly and to a much

larger size than normal because of the cold temperatures.

And with the Antarctic winter starting in March,

these creatures have to survive longer periods

Researchers are studying seaweed collected from the area

and monitoring the animals which use it to hitch a lift

With climate change, and things, the conditions

further south changing, a lot of people are worried

about animals from the north coming down into the Antarctic.

But you have to have a way of getting there, especially

if you've got hundreds and hundreds of miles of very deep sea

This kelp offers a mode of transport for those

It's hoped scientists will be back on the Halley research

station after November to further our understanding

of the future of the world from one of the most remote

The next phase of development at a Milton Keynes shopping centre

The grade II listed Centre:MK will get new customer facilities,

and a multistorey car park for over 1,000 vehicles.

The redevelopment coincides with the towns 50th

More on our top story at 10:30pm, but now let's join Stewart and Susie

inevitably will mean a lot of countryside. -- a loss of

countryside. You're watching Look East

with Stewart and me. Stay with us for the story behind

the Royal Mail's new stamps. We're looking ahead to Lincoln

against Ipswich in the FA Cup. And how a satellite from this region

will be helping to improve Time is running out for people

who want to have their say over plans for a new nuclear power

station in Suffolk. French energy giant EDF wants

to build a new type of reactor Sizewell C would be the biggest

civil engineering project ever It would take up

to ten years to build The second round of

public consultation ends Our environment reporter

Richard Daniel has been looking A world-renowned nature reserve that

sits cheek by jowl to Sizewell. The project of the massive construction

site nearby is causing concern. From that, potential

to disturbed birds in the non-breeding season,

in the winter, but also in their breeding territories

if there is too much noise, impact on the water levels,

that could potentially affect their EDF say they are carrying out

surveys, but will not release detailed information until the final

stages. The building was a huge project, but with its twin reactors,

the building of Sizewell C would be on a completely different scale.

This is the existing site. It was objectively double its size. Added

to that, construction elements. There is an accommodation campus for

2400 workers. This is where part of the campus accommodation as EDF is

proposing is likely to be. Our position all along has been in order

for the region to benefit truly and for the local community's impact to

be reduced, it would be much more effective to split the campus

accommodation into more urban settings. Right next to the site

lies side well marshes. It is described as irreplaceable. A lot of

it would be loss of the road was built. A lot of that is of a

significant concern. We would also begin certain about the wider

platform build. The rating ground water through the more. We have our

moral and ethical right to minimise disruption and we accept there will

be disruption. There is a lot of benefits to be brought by this

project images up to us to get the balance in terms of minimising it

but also getting the benefits. Conservationists say that at this

stage they don't have sufficient information to get an understanding

of what the impact will be. It is clear now that there is plenty at

stake. A flint mine in Norfolk which dates

back 5,000 years is being featured in a new set of postage stamps

from the Royal Mail. In its heyday, Grime's Graves

was of national significance. The prehistoric site

near Thetford has been preserved It's one of several images

of Ancient Britain to be It looks like a lunar landscape,

the grass covered craters are what remain of more than 350 mineshafts

excavated between 3000 and 2000 BC. Miners used antlers

for picks in the hunt Miners used antlers for picks

in the hunt for rich seams of flint The miners at Grimes Graves

at this historic site now Despite the name, there

are no bodies buried here. This is the only Neolithic

flint mine in Britain that opens to visitors and for school

parties, it's the perfect history At Glade Primary in

Knappers Way Brandon, and their teacher who took

a school trip to the site. They visit filmed by

English Heritage including a I had lots of people

who were there and my friends were encouraging me to go

down there and not be scared, but I Once you go down, you see

all these kind of flint rocks When I go down there,

it was like my room They thought that Flint was really

special and they could make weapons The ancient house

Museum in Thetford has original artefacts from Grimes

Graves including this large slab of dark, glossy Flint

and this replica acts. It's beautiful natural science

as well as being of very great And you can go down the shafts,

the mineshafts, following in the footsteps of the Neolithic miners

and you can get a real sense of what A very atmospheric,

evocative and wonderful site. Grime's Graves comes

out of the shadows tonight is one of eight ancient

Britain's stamps available from Amazing pictures and the kids were

so enthusiastic. Next, how our region is helping

to improve the accuracy Yes, a satellite made in Stevenage

will be the first to measure wind The Aeolus satellite

is about to head for France for testing before being

launched into orbit. In Greek mythology, Aeolus

was the keeper of the winds. Now, it's the world's

first ever satellite designed to study the Earth's wind

patterns from space. It's going to collect more data

in one week than we have It's been built in a clean room

at Airbus to keep its glaze is It shines it through the atmosphere

and a telescope picked up the reflections of that

signal from the dust particles and the aerosols

in From this, we concede

the wind speed throughout At the minute we don't measure

of the wind in this way, we just use weather balloons that pop up

in individual points and radio songs There are huge parts

of the planet where we actually This will make it

much more accurate. It means that there

will be actual data rather than estimated data and that

should feed into more accurate Aeolus works by firing

a laser into the atmosphere It's reflected back

by molecules and clouds, that at a subtly different frequency

in what is called the It is the difference between these

two signals that gives This satellite which weighs

about the same as a Mini is going to be travelling

around the Earth at 27,000 When in its three-year

life span it will orbit There is all sorts of

fundamental building blocks to making a weather forecast,

but none really more important than But the wind is a really

complicated thing. It varies very dramatically

as you go up through What we can do with the satellite

is just get a much broader image and we needed know

what the winds are doing right now to be able to predict

the weather in the future. The data that Aeolus sends

back could lead to a breakthrough in our understanding

of the Earth's climate. The big football match

on the TV tonight is the FA Cup Third Round replay

between Lincoln City It's on Match of the Day

at eight o'clock. The studio line-up tonight includes

Ipswich legend Terry Butcher. How I do Terry? This could be a

banana skin, couldn't it? It could well be. Mick McCarthy's team have

not won two games in succession this season they would have to win to

play Brighton in the next round of the cup. As was in the first game,

Lincoln are a very good side frame National League team. A good number

of Ipswich Town fancier. They are buoyant, they have not lost at home,

they are a really good run. How important is to knight in far as

Mick McCarthy is concerned? Ipswich has gone out in the third round of

the cup over the last seven years, so it would be no shock if they do

go out, but it would be an absolute shocker they do go out to National

League opposition. The budget is around half a million mark whereas

Ipswich is considerably higher. They have got ambitions themselves. When

you look at the weight of the teams you look at the weight of the teams

have played, there was no difference between the sides. Lincoln was the

better team. I expect them to come out fighting because they know and a

lot of the players know that Mick McCarthy and their job is might be

on the line if they go out. With a very different state of affairs when

you were there and things were going so well. Yes, is so long ago.

Remember playing against Bradford and we drew a home to them and they

were in the bottom division then we went up to another team and we had

to battle hard to win the replay. It was a will have two battle very hard

to win the replay today. If Tom Lawrence can get on the ball, do

against Lincoln and two against the other team, then it will be very

tough. A very old-fashioned cup ties just like the old days. Does it

matter to the club whether they stay in the cup? Should they beat

concentrating on the league? Any win is a great win for Ipswich Town's

point of view. The win against Blackburn was great for three

points. A win tonight will take them through. A win is a win and when you

are Ipswich's position, any kind of win is a moral boost and a huge

boost to the club. They will be looking to just make progress and

win a football match. It all breeds confidence. Ipswich has some really

hard matches coming up, but we every team in the top nine. If they get

through this, they have to play Brighton as well who are playing

very well. This is going to be as tough as a championship match, if

not tougher. What will be the final school? I think you will go to extra

time. So, it could be 1-1, it could be won - whatever. I've got my

fingers crossed for Ipswich. Brilliant.

Amazing how a bit of January start to Lee Mack Sunshine lift the

spirits. Here are some is on the water. A reflection of sunshine and

blue sky. Plenty of sunshine in Frinton on Sea. If this does not

help you feel a bit better, hopefully this little chap wealth

soaking up the winter sunshine. This was the Norfolk coast. What a

fantastic photograph. Today we have had high pressure. That has kept is

largely fine. This weather front has been away to the north-west. The

closer you word that front, the more cloud you saw. Over the last few

hours, this cloud has cleared away for a time being. Under these clear

skies, we've already got loads of minus 12 minus two. Overnight

tonight, a fairly widespread frost. -- minus one or minus two. Thicker

cloud coming down from the west. A big question mark about how quickly

this cloud will spread in. It may produce a bit of drizzle, but most

will be staying dry. Once the cloud arrives, we will see the temperature

is rising again. By the end of the is rising again. By the end of the

night, we could be a degree or so above freezing again. We will hold

onto light winds. Tomorrow, high pressure in charge. That front sits

to the north of us. The Linux sits west to east. It doesn't look like

that will generate more cloud and push it down further south. For many

of us, it will be a cloudy day compared to today. It will thin and

break at times. This out these in corner, we are expecting the best of

the brightness. Temperatures at best, well, I think about three and

five Celsius. We will hold onto light winds. The largely dry

conditions will continue into tomorrow evening. Thicker cloud will

produce a bit of patchy rain and drizzle here and there. That is

Wednesday. Some of this seeing more sunshine than others, but generally

more cloud around. Thursday and Friday, question marks over how much

cloud will be there. Pressure keeping it largely fine and dry.

Both days will be largely cloudy. Best chance of any sunshine in the

south. Debra disclosed to average. We may lose the frost overnight. We

may see the return of frost on Saturday night for some of us under

clear skies. Thank you very much. That is all from us. Having evening.

Goodbye. That I will faithfully execute

the Office... And will to the best

of my ability... The Constitution

of the United States...