BT to close 90% of UK office locations

BT’s cost-efficiency strategy has managed to avoid the headlines in recent months, but today it has announced it will be shutting down 270 of its 300 office locations around the UK.

Unions have been very vocal opponents of the strategy, suggesting it is the telco’s way of spring cleaning, taking the opportunity to shepherd out old bodies. This announcement might be one of the first steps in the consolidation plan, as new CEO Philip Jansen looks to shore up the spreadsheets and finally realise the potential of the £12.5 billion acquisition of EE.

Snuck in with an announcement about modernising eight offices, BT will close 270 of its 300 office locations around the UK in pursuit of a more attractive profit column. If it is any consolation for the members of staff involved in the re-shuffle, these eight refurbed offices will have 5G connectivity.

Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Ipswich, London and Manchester have been identified as key locations for the business moving forward. In some cases, the same office will be used, though details have not emerged on which staff will be moving into a new space.

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

“Revealing these eight locations is just the first step; 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.”

In all honesty, this is a process which BT has been forced into more than making a choice. The telcos is one of the least profitable in the larger segment, while difficulties in managing the relationship with regulators.

Redundancies and restructuring strategies are never pleasant topics to discuss, however BT does need to ensure it is a business built for the next generation of connectivity. The world has changed dramatically and at an astonishing pace over the last decade, forcing telcos to make some difficult decisions.

13,000 redundancies were announced in May last year, and there have been rumours Jansen might be preparing for another announcement in the future. The last financial results passed without any new cuts, but that is not to say there won’t be more in the future. Most of these cuts will be made in the back-office and middle-management functions, with the UK workforce taking the sharpest part of the blade.

Closing offices and consolidating operations is a sensible business decision, few companies will be blamed for making such financial decisions, though it seems to be more of a material development here. The restructuring strategy of BT is becoming very real.