BT’s plans to move into its new central London headquarters in Aldgate by 2021 as it continues its restructuring programme.
Last week, the company confirmed it had agreed to sell its existing 300,000 square foot home at St Pauls for £210 million and to lease the building for 30 months while it moves to the new facility.
BT Centre had been its base since 1985, but the company said it was no longer suitable for its current needs. CEO Philip Jansen said the new site at Aldgate was “fit for purpose.”
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New BT HQ
“We’ve been headquartered in BT Centre for nearly 35 years and we’ve been looking for a building in central London that will be the home of BT for the next 35 or more,” he explained. “The 18 floors of our new headquarters will do just that.
“Between now and moving into the building we’ll be working with architects, designers and – most importantly – our colleagues, to make sure it’s the home the business wants and needs.
A restructuring programme was announced by former CEO Gavin Patterson last year and will see 13,000 jobs cut, mainly in back office and middle management roles, and a move to base its operations at 30 sites around the UK.
It is hoped the changes will save £1.3 billion, allow the more streamlined company to react more rapidly to market trends, and means it can get closer to customers. There will be fewer leadership roles with greater responsibilities and more jobs will be created in engineering and customer service.
“The relocation of our global headquarters is a symbolic move but really it’s the tip of the iceberg; we are currently embarking on one of the largest workplace transformation programmes the UK has ever seen,” added Jansen. “The Better Workplace Programme is going to take a lot of hard work but it will have a huge and positive impact on BT’s working culture, our productivity and, ultimately, our ability to serve our customers.”
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