In a drive to save costs, BT has made public its 4 chosen London locations as contenders for its brand-new HQ. The telecoms giant’s headquarters is currently at 81 Newgate Street in the City.
The shortlist consists of the International Quarter in Stratford, 80 Fenchurch Street, One Braham in Aldgate, and the Wood Wharf scheme owned by the Canary Wharf Group.
Last week bids, the first round of bids opened for the company’s current 10-floor, 273,000 square foot headquarters near St Paul’s. The second round is due very shortly, which will soon see BT leaving its purpose-built headquarters, which it has occupied since construction in 1985.
BT announced that this move is being driven by plans to reduce the company’s current fifty locations across the United Kingdom, down to thirty. They have also made public their plan for new sites to be placed strategically to enable an open customer-centred collaborative work culture to be further developed.
BT's CEO, Gavin Patterson, announced in May that they had a goal of saving £1.5 billion in the next 3 years. The cost reductions and restructuring will include 6,000 new positions becoming available with the launch of a new product range. As part of the money saving venture, there will also be restructuring of management and back-office roles, cutting approximately 13,000 jobs over the next 36 months.
These will be spread over 3 years, with both internal office workers and management positions disappearing. The following month, the company made an announcement that after fourteen years with BT, Patterson will be stepping down from his position.
