BT Adastral Park jobs move could affect 1,100 roles

BT's site at Adastral Park in Martlesham, near Ipswich, is the company's research and development headquarters

BT has announced plans to transfer jobs away from Suffolk in a move that could affect 1,100 roles.

The telecommunications giant said it would "reduce the size" of its presence at Adastral Park, in Martlesham.

The union Prospect said it was "extremely concerned" by the plans that could lead to the "fragmenting" of the research centre.

BT said it would continue to invest in the site but was "rebalancing talent across its UK locations".

Staff had been informed but details of redeployment were not yet known, a spokesman said.

'Engineering excellence'

About 2,900 BT staff are currently employed at the site.

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.

"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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In a statement, BT 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're committed to Adastral Park for the long-term, and we'll continue to invest in our facilities there as a number of our core operations, research and security functions will remain on-site.

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

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