Ipswich to be key location amid BT shake up

Telecoms giant BT has announced that Adastral Park in Suffolk will be a key location in a major restructuring.

The 110 acre site just outside Ipswich has been unveiled as one of eight key locations which will house its workforce.

The company - which has 300 offices across the UK - today announced it was reducing those to just 30 locations.

Ipswich, along with Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London and Manchester have been named as the key bases for the group.

A spokesman for the group said the workplace improvement and consolidation programme is the biggest of its type ever undertaken in the UK and is expected to complete by 2023.

Detailed plans are still to be finalised, some existing BT buildings will be refurbished while others will see BT move into new offices.

Marking 40 years of innovation at Adastral Park

Around 52,000 people are currently employed across the 300 locations.

Noel McClean, national officer of the Prospect union, said: "While the unionis committed to working with BT to establish offices that are fit for the 21stcentury, what is left unsaid in today's announcement is what will happen to the current estate."

"Indeed, moving from an estate of over 300 locations to around 30 by 2023poses a huge logistical challenge for all concerned.

"For example, closing each existing building will require a period ofconsultation and considerable support for affected staff, from both the company and the union."