BT considering closing its office in Derry with workers and unions being consulted

A BT Group spokesperson said: “BT is going through an ambitious modernisation programme and consolidating buildings within its estate from more than 300 to closer to 30, modern workspaces.

"We are considering closing our office in Derry-Londonderry and we are consulting with colleagues and their unions on our proposals.

"Where appropriate, people will be given the opportunity to relocate to other roles at our Riverside Tower office in Belfast, which benefited from a multi-million pound refurbishment in 2023 and which is home to around 2,000 people.

"Benefiting from a state-of-the-art workplace, there are also greater career opportunities within a larger location for colleagues. There’s no impact to customers from these proposals.”

Up to 140 people across two teams are likely to be affected while BT propose retaining the Telephone Exchange for now.

It’s believed 90 jobs currently based in the BT building in Derry are being moved to India and 47 positions are being relocated to Belfast.

As it announced the news on Wednesday BT also published an independent report by Hatch, highlighting ‘the knock-on economic benefits from the company’s spend with suppliers and spending by employees’.

The report found that in 2023-24, 230 BT Group employees and contractors worked in Derry & Strabane while 240 lived in the district.

When the indirect supply chain impact was taken into account BT, Hatch, found provided employment for 310 in the North West contributing £40m in Gross Value Added to the local economy in wages.

Many of the local BT workers are based at the Telephone Exchange on Queen’s Quay in Derry city centre.

The BT Group said it remains ‘committed to Northern Ireland, building full fibre broadband further and faster than anyone else’.

"We’ve already reached nearly 90 per cent of homes and businesses with Openreach’s full fibre broadband network, and with extensive 5G and 4G mobile coverage from EE, Northern Ireland is the most digitally connected region in the UK,” a spokesperson said.

The company currently supports approximately 5,500 jobs in the North through its economic impact and the activities of BT Group added £630 million to the economy last year.