BT's Belfast base 'safe' despite office closures

BT has said Belfast will remain one of its key locations after it announced plans to close 270 offices in the UK.

The telecoms and media firm is planning to move all its UK office staff into just 30 centres by 2023.

BT has about 1,500 staff in its Belfast offices with a further 300 in Derry and 200 in Enniskillen. The future of those two operations is unclear.

The company said this was only the first round of announcements and that no jobs would be lost.

BT will shortly begin consulting staff across the UK and said all those affected would be given the chance to relocate to one of the new centres.

The first eight key locations announced on Wednesday were Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Ipswich, London and Manchester.

Group chief executive Philip Jansen said: "Revealing these eight locations is just the first step.

"We have dedicated teams working on identifying the best buildings to move into and which ones to redesign for the future.

"As a result of this programme, BT people will be housed in inspiring offices that are better for our business and better for our customers."