£47m defence contract

ENGINEERING group AEA Technology is to create up to 300 jobs after winning a £47m contract from the Ministry of Defence. The MoD has appointed AEA, based in Didcot, Oxfordshire, sole supplier of the batteries and chargers used in battlefield communications. The group employs 120 people at its battery plant in Thurso, in the Scottish Highlands, but said it would now hire up to 200 people over the next three years to fulfil the MoD contract. In addition, AEA will build a new facility employing about 100 people to make the chargers.

CHIEF RESIGNS: The chief executive of defence group BAE Systems has shocked the City by resigning after more than 30 years with the firm. John Weston, 50, was appointed chief executive of British Aerospace in May 1998, and led the firm through its 1999 takeover of Marconi Electronic Systems - the defence interests of the former GEC.

DEBTS CUT: Eurotunnel, operator of the Channel Tunnel, is to cut its debt mountain by more than £400m. The group, which has debt of £6.4bn, is to raise new long term finance and use the proceeds to buy back existing debt.

WAGE RISE: Salaries in the North-East have continued to rise ahead of the national average, according to employment services group Adecco. Office workers' salaries rose by an average 4.8 per cent to £13,436 in the past year - the national average was 3.9 per cent to £15,305. Industrial sector salaries rose by 1.3 per cent to an average of £12,109.

ORANGE LAUNCH: Orange is rebranding its Slovakian mobile phone business Globtel as Orange. The launch is part of the group's plans to create a global brand, and follows successful launches in France and Denmark.

FAT CATS: Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon has defended the club's £9.5m rise in players' wages, insisting the Premiership champions are more than capable of funding the increase. The increase, revealed in the club's interim results, amounts to an extra £182,000 a week.