BT to close 90 per cent of its UK offices
BT Group will shut offices in more than 270 locations across UK as it seeks to cut £1.5bn in costs.
The telecoms company is to slash its number of offices across the UK by 90 per cent, leaving just 30 open. In some locations, existing buildings will be refurbished while in others BT will move to more modern premises.
The first eight new locations will be Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, and at the Adastral Park research facility near Ipswich.
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Philip Jansen, who took over as the firm’s chief in April, said: “We have dedicated teams working on identifying the best buildings to move into and which ones to redesign for the future. As a result of this programme, BT people will be housed in inspiring offices that are better for our business and better for our customers.”
The changes comes as part of a larger plan announced a year ago by Jansen’s predecessor, Gavin Patterson, to save £1.5bn and improve its services. BT will cut 13,000 jobs as part of the process.
A BT spokesperson told City A.M. no further jobs will be cut as a result of the relocations.
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BT’s iconic headquarters building overlooking St Paul’s Cathedral – where it has been located since 1984 – is among those that will be vacated under the plan. But talks to sell the building to Great Portland Estates for £210m have reportedly collapsed.
The savings will fund upgrades to BT’s lagging broadband and mobile networks, and help relieve the company’s enormous pension scheme deficit.
Jansen has vowed to roll out full-fibre broadband to 15m homes by the mid-2020s.
Last month. BT said its core earnings would drop again for the third year in a row, falling from £7.3bn to £7.2bn.