BT Group Adds a £2BN to North West Economy

· BT Group’s activities provided an estimated boost of almost £2bn to the North West economy last year and supported more than 20,000 jobs across the region       

· Estimates include the knock-on impact of the spend of employees and payment to suppliers in local economies in all parts of the country 

· The company spent around £420m with suppliers based in the North West last year 

The activities of BT Group added nearly £2bn to the wider North West economy last year and supported more than 20,000 jobs across the region, according to a new report published today. 

The report from consultancy firm Hatch looked at the spend of employees and suppliers of BT Group – which includes EE, BT, Plusnet and Openreach – and the estimated knock-on impact that has on economies across the country. 

The report found that BT Group, the UK’s largest telecommunications company which employs around 8,600 people across the North West, made a direct contribution to the region’s economy estimated at £1.2 billion 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 £1.86 billion. 

The company’s spending with suppliers based in the North West came to a total of £420 million. According to the study, BT Group’s combined activities supported a knock-on total of 20,800 jobs across the region.  

The report highlights BT Group’s presence across the North West and its current major investment in the rollout of full-fibre broadband and 5G across the country. It also profiles the range of activities by BT Group colleagues 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. 

BT Group is also transforming its offices and contact centres across the UK, including a multi-million-pound new hub at Manchester’s Four New Bailey, which is currently under construction and will provide a base for up to 2,000 colleagues. Once complete Four New Bailey will serve as one of BT Group’s key locations across the UK.

Offices in Belfast and Glasgow have also undergone major refurbishments.  

It is part of the company’s Better Workplace Programme, one of the largest workplace improvement schemes of its type ever undertaken in the UK. The five-year programme 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.” 

BT Group employees and contractors in key parts of the North West: