BT announces plans to cut workforce by more than a third at Adastral Park

Staff at its base at Adastral Park at Martlesham, in Suffolk were told of the news in a meeting. Credit: ITV News Anglia

Telecoms giant BT has announced plans to cut 1100 jobs from one its sites over the next two years as part of a plan to 'rebalance it's talent footprint.'

Staff at its base at Adastral Park at Martlesham, in Suffolk were reportedly told the news at a meeting.

Under the proposals, the 2,900 strong workforce would be cut by more than third to 1,800, with some of those affected being offered the chance to move to other sites in the UK.

The company said that while it remains committed to Ipswich, Adastral Park is large and requires 'significant investment to modernise.'

A BT Group spokesperson said: “We’re consolidating into a smaller number of buildings around the UK that provide cutting edge technology and great working environments for our people.

"As part of these activities, we’re proposing to reduce the size of our presence at Adastral Park and move some roles to other BT Group locations over the next two years.

“We are committed to Adastral Park for the long-term, and we will continue to invest in our facilities there as a number of our core operations, research and security functions will remain on-site.

"We will work closely with any colleagues impacted by these changes and will offer support including relocation and redeployment options wherever possible.” 

But unions have expressed concern at the plans. In a statement Prospect said that despite BT's suggestion there will be opportunities elsewhere, it fears the job cuts 'will amount to redundancies and will actually negatively impact collaboration.'

Philippa Childs, Prospect Deputy General Secretary said: “For 50 years the Adastral Park site at Martlesham Heath has been the centre of research and engineering excellence for the UK telecommunications industry. 

"Fragmenting this centre and losing the environment of collaboration, innovation and creativity it fosters will diminish the business and have a huge personal impact upon the people involved.

“The likely impact on the local economy in Suffolk cannot be overstated.

“Prospect urges BT to be fully transparent about its business case for significantly reducing jobs at Adastral Park and to consider all alternatives to making these highly skilled workers redundant.”

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