We have adopted the practice of promoting and appointing, where practicable, from our existing workforce; during 2005, 109 vacancies were advertised internally (2004: 142) and of the 10 senior management positions that became available, nine were filled by internal candidates.  We also believe in giving our senior managers exposure to different parts of the business to broaden their experience and retain an active and dynamic management culture.  In 2005, 17 per cent of delegates at our annual senior managers’ conference were in new roles compared to 2004.  In 2005, we appointed two new Port Directors to our operational board; both were internal appointments. 

We recognise that regular feedback and goal-setting are important elements of employee development, and a key tool in achieving this in a structured way is through the annual personal development review (PDR), which takes place between each UK employee and their line manager.  The PDR goal-setting process is closely aligned to business performance, with the inclusion of key indicators, such as health and safety performance.

There were over 3,000 instances of individuals participating in formal training during 2005.  This included those attending further and higher education establishments, as well as training courses for operators of plant and equipment and courses in health and safety, supervisory and management skills, technical skills and business administration.