BT adds nearly £2bn to West Midlands economy
The UK’s largest telecommunications company BT says it added nearly £2bn to the West Midlands economy last year, and supported more than 23,000 jobs across the region.
The report by consultancy firm Hatch, revealed the impact the group – which includes EE, BT, Plusnet and Openreach – has had on economies across the country.
BT which employs around 6,800 people across the West Midlands, is reported to have made a direct contribution to the region’s economy estimated at £1bn in the last financial year (2021/22).
Through the company’s employees and its supply chain, and their subsequent spending, Hatch estimates the resulting boost to the region’s economy came to a total of £1.95bn.
The company’s spending with suppliers based in the West Midlands came to a total of £640m. According to the study, BT Group’s combined activities supported a knock-on total of 23,200 jobs across the region.
The report highlights BT’s major investment in the rollout of full-fibre broadband and 5G across the country. It also profiles the range of activities by BT s across the UK, from the volunteers helping care home residents avoid isolation and loneliness, to the teams protecting customers and the UK from cyber threats.
Three Snow Hill
BT says it is also transforming its offices and contact centres across the UK and after opening its new hub at Three Snow Hill in Birmingham in 2021. New hubs are set to open in Manchester and Cardiff this year, and offices in Belfast and Glasgow have undergone major refurbishments.
It is part of the company’s five-year Better Workplace Programme, which will see the company shift from having around 300 locations in the UK to around 30, with a focus on creating new, modern workspaces.
Philip Jansen, Chief Executive of BT Group, said: “BT Group plays a vital role at the heart of the UK economy. We’re one of only a handful of companies that serves customers in every corner of the country.
“We’ve continued our major investment in building next generation full fibre and mobile connectivity rapidly across the UK. We’ve already reached 9.6 million premises with full fibre, and our 5G mobile network now reaches 60% of the UK population. The benefits to families and businesses are huge: new jobs, economic growth and innovation, across every nation and region.
“We’re also transforming BT Group so that we’re fit to power the UK economy of the future. Our new state-of the-art offices, spread across the UK, are a central part of that, bringing colleagues together in brilliant spaces that will enable collaboration and help us to better serve our customers.”
