BT adds £1.5 billion to West Midlands economy - report
BT Group is responsible for adding around £1.5 billion to the West Midlands economy and supporting more than 21,000 jobs, a new report reveals.
The Economic Impact of BT Group in the UK report, by consultancy firm Hatch, calculates that the communications and technology company generated more than £24 billion in gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy during the last financial year, including £1.5 billion in the West Midlands alone.
It measures the firm 's spend with contractors and suppliers and the spending power of its employees.
The report estimates that around 21,700 full-time jobs in the West Midlands are supported by BT Group through direct, indirect and induced effects.
The firm also spent £636 million with suppliers based across the region, including those in the retail, construction and telecommunications industries.
BT Group has broadband and mobile networks spanning from the Scilly Isles to Shetland, built and maintained by some of the 82,800 direct employees it has in the UK.
In the West Midlands, the firm directly employs 5,470 people, with a further 600 employed as contractors.
The company is currently modernising its business, including investing in the UK 's largest workplace consolidation and modernisation programme, as it moves from 300 locations to around 30 as part of its Better Workplace programme.
The firm will move into a brand-new regional hub at Three Snowhill, Birmingham, this year, and plans to open a new HQ in London later in 2021.
New hub locations will also open in places such as Bristol and Manchester.
Furthermore, BT unveiled plans to recruit 51 apprentices and graduates in Birmingham for its September 2021 intake.
Meanwhile, Openreach, the digital network business, part of BT Group, is creating 160 new full-time engineering roles across the West Midlands this year.
Wendy Sycamore, BT Group regional lead for the Midlands, said: “I 'm immensely proud of the contribution our colleagues make in supporting the West Midlands economy.
“At an important time for our region, our spending on people, networks and suppliers, provides a vital economic boost.
“The wider impact of that spending helps to sustain communities and small businesses right across the Midlands.
“In the past year, having good connectivity has become more important than ever as we 've all had to work, learn, and spend more leisure time online.
“Despite these challenges, our dedicated and determined colleagues have ensured EE 's 5G network has been extended to cover 125 towns and cities, including 17 in the West Midlands, built out Openreach 's full-fibre network to reach 4.1 million premises and EE 's 4G network now reaches 85 per cent of the UK.
“I know these significant investments will help to underpin the country 's economic recovery post-Covid. ”
Paul Faulkner, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: "The findings of this report would make impressive reading in more conventional times - the fact that we are operating in the midst of a global pandemic which is having a direct and devastating impact on our economy simply underlines the wider importance of BT to not only Birmingham but the region as a whole.
"Clearly BT is playing a vital role in sustaining and creating jobs across the region, but it 's also adding a significant contribution to regional GVA and as the report highlights, BT 's influence reaches across a plethora of sectors and professions in the Midlands.
"As we emerge from this crisis, BT 's investment in a brand new regional hub based in the heart of Birmingham will remind the world that our city is very much open for businesses and will hopefully act as a lightening rod for wider investment throughout the West Midlands.
"The pandemic has highlighted the extent to which digital inequalities exist across our society and it 's fantastic to see that BT is playing a major role in tackling these structural issues which will fire productivity levels and drive prosperity across the board - clearly the ultimate example of Britain building back better."
Pictured: BT's new office at Three Snowhill