Thanks all. I think DH is a little down, but it's still all not set in stone & what will be, will be, eh? His boss is of the belief that he (the boss) is being the victim of a corporate stitchup & dastardly-doo-doo orchestrated by a guy (who used to be the boss's boss) with whom he had words in the past. (there are good reasons, obvious signs for him to think that)
They have a 90-day consultation period over the change, so his boss is already rallying some important internal customers in other parts of the business to go to bat for him (and the team really) as to why what they are doing, as they are doing it, is essential to the business (i.e., they generate A LOT of income for the company). He has some of the directors involved on board with a counterproposal. Bristol offices are all about outsourcing to India, which I sense is where this might be headed at some point - except the code base/platform that DH's team operates on is pretty vast & complex & well - serious money-making - such that it would be very challenging to export & maintain the corporate advantage in it. (They have been doing dynamic work in Leeds, sort of apart from the nonsense in Bristol, for a long time -- all to do with what were different companies originally, that have merged & rebranded & so on & so forth over a 10 year period.) The suits in Bristol honestly haven't a clue as to what his team really does - big corporation, everybody having their own little fifedoms in a huge operation, no cooperation/communication/etc, that sort of thing.
So it's not over 'til the fat lady sings, I guess. And I'm not planning to go & sing for them.
