BT has agreed to sell its central London head office to a private equity firm as part of its ongoing restructuring programme. Orion Capital Managers will acquire BT Center for nearly €210 million and has agreed to lease the 300,000-square-foot office building for a period of 30 months as the company moves into a new headquarters in the capital.
BT-HQ
A new site has not yet been confirmed, but BT said details will be available soon. The restructuring program was announced by former CEO Gavin Patterson last year. It foresees the elimination of 13,000 jobs, mainly in administrative and middle management positions, as well as the decision to base its operations on 30 sites across the UK. The changes are expected to save €1.3 billion, allow the stripped down company to react more quickly to market trends and be closer to customers. There will be fewer leadership roles with increased responsibilities, and more engineering and customer service jobs will be created. BT plans to invest up to £3.700bn a year in infrastructure as Openreach continues to roll out Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) technology. Its rollout in 5G continues. BT believes it can be a leader in converged networks that integrate fixed, mobile and wireless connectivity to deliver new experiences for businesses and consumers.