BT announces plans for hundreds of new jobs at sites across the UK

Telecoms giant BT has announced plans to create hundreds of new jobs at sites across the UK.

The firm wants to expand its in-house digital arm between the UK and India by 2024.

Previously the company revealed it would consolidate its workforce in key locations.

It was part of a company-wide review which saw 300 offices across the country reduced to just 30 locations.

Now the 1,000 new highly skilled UK jobs will be based around BT's hub sites in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast, Ipswich and London.

The company said it hopes to fill roles in product management, software engineering, cloud, design, data, AI and machine learning.

Harmeen Mehta, chief digital and innovation officer at BT, said: "Digital was founded to accelerate BT's transformation, innovation and return to growth.

"To succeed, we need to bring in and upskill the top digital talent, and our efforts will boost the tech communities in the UK and India along the way."

The company has already showcased some next generation technologies at its Ipswich hub site.

Robotic iPads and robots that can pick fruit on farms are just a few innovative projects developed by companies working at the robotics testing lab in Suffolk.

The facility at the BT Labs in Martlesham, Ipswich is hoping to play a "key role" in developing robotics solutions to speed the deployment of infrastructure