North East benefits from over £1bn and thousands of jobs thanks to telecom provider BT

BT Group is the UK's largest telecommunications company. Credit: PA

A telecommunication provider is believed to have added more than £1bn to the North East economy and supported thousands of jobs over the last year.

According to a report published by the consultancy firm Hatch, the BT Group spent around £40million with suppliers based in the North East over the last twelve months, and sustained around 13,000 jobs.

The report looked at the spend of employees and suppliers of BT Group, which includes EE, BT, Plusnet and Openreach. It also examined the estimated knock-on impact that the business has on economies across the country. 

BT Group is the UK's largest telecommunications company. During the last financial year, the company employed around 7,500 in the North East.

The number of BT Group employees and contractors in key parts of the North East:

  • Darlington - 2,050

  • Newcastle - 470

  • North Tyneside - 3,460

  • Middlesbrough - 290

  • Sunderland - 1,040

Through BT Group's employees and those in the supply chain, Hatch estimated in the report that the company boosted the wider region's economy by £1 billion. 

In Gosforth, Newcastle the company is undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment of its offices and contact centres, and its centre in North Tyneside is undergoing a state-of-the-art redevelopment.

This is in addition to major investment from BT Group across the UK and in our region including the rollout of full-fibre broadband and 5G.

Chief Executive of BT Group, Philip Jansen, said: “BT Group plays a vital role at the heart of the UK economy. We're one of only a handful of companies that serves customers in every corner of the country. 

“We've continued our major investment in building next generation full fibre and mobile connectivity rapidly across the UK. We've already reached 9.6 million premises with full fibre, and our 5G mobile network now reaches 60% of the UK population.

"The benefits to families and businesses are huge: new jobs, economic growth and innovation, across every nation and region."

Mr Jansen added: “We’re also transforming BT Group so that we’re fit to power the UK economy of the future. Our new state-of-the-art offices, spread across the UK, are a central part of that, bringing colleagues together in brilliant spaces that will enable collaboration and help us to better serve our customers.”