BT to close offices in 270 UK locations in cost-cutting move

BT announced on Wednesday that it will close offices in more than 270 UK locations as part of a cost-cutting programme.

The company will have around 30 office locations once the programme is completed around 2023, down from over 300, it said in a statement.

Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Ipswich, London, and Manchester are the first eight locations that it said would “house a variety of the company’s operations.”

“This is a clear signal that BT is committed to the whole of the UK, with locations in all four countries and their capitals,” it said.

“Though detailed plans of BT’s footprint in each location are still to be finalised, some existing BT buildings will be refurbished while others will see BT move into new offices.”

Last year, BT announced a £1.5bn cost-cutting plan involving 13,000 job losses and a move out of its central London headquarters, where it has been based for almost 150 years.

The plan was described by the then-CEO, Gavin Patterson, as “the most significant transformation” that the company had made in the past decade.

Around two-thirds of the job cuts will be made to its 83,000-strong UK workforce, while the rest will come from the 23,000 people it employs outside of the country.

BT is thought to be close to a £200m deal to sell the headquarters, which is located close to St Paul’s Cathedral. It hopes to move into a base not far away, in Aldgate.

On Wednesday, BT described the proposed closure of more than 90% of its offices as a “workplace improvement programme.”

“The Better Workplace Programme is about bringing our people together in brilliant spaces, and transforming the way we work,” BT chief executive Philip Jansen said in a statement.