TELECOMS giant BT is worth £470 million a year to the Northern Ireland economy, an independent study has revealed.
And in the 12 months it has supported around 5,440 jobs through direct employment, spending with contractors and suppliers, and its own staff splashing out, according to the 'Economic Impact of BT and EE in the UK’ report by Regeneris Consulting.
In employment terms, the company's impact in the 2015-16 financial year was larger than Northern Ireland's research and development sector.
Nearly 3,170 people are directly employed by BT and its EE business with a total income of around £98 million - equivalent to one in five employees working in the region’s IT and communications sector and one in 120 employees working in the private sector.
The company employs staff across the region, with key local centres in Belfast, Derry, Fermanagh, Craigavon, and Newtownabbey.
BT also spent around £109 million with Northern Ireland suppliers, and provides work for a further 2,270 people through spending with businesses that supply equipment and services, as well as through the spending of its staff.
The overall economic impact of BT and EE activities is expressed as a gross value added (GVA) contribution, and for Northern Ireland this combined GVA totalled £470 million – equivalent to £1 in every £80 of the region’s total spend.
The report has been welcomed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Its regional director Angela McGowan said: “This research demonstrates the extent to which BT plays a key role in our local communities.
"There is not a business or household in Northern Ireland who – directly or indirectly – is not affected by BT’s investment in this region.
"As well as being a supplier of essential services such as superfast broadband, the company is also a major employer across Northern Ireland and a large purchaser for local supply chains. BT’s success is based on smart investments in both technology and people.
“And in a competitive world, in which trade and relationships increasingly transcend regional and national boundaries, rapid and effective communications are ever more vital.”
Colm O’Neill, head of BT's operations in Northern Ireland, said: “Few commercial organisations have a more positive and direct impact on the local economy and communities than BT.
“The acquisition of EE means we can invest even further, enabling people living and working in Northern Ireland to get access to the best communications - fixed line, mobile and broadband services - now and in the future.
“As well as providing the means for families, home-workers, companies and other organisations to communicate and do business in new and exciting ways, BT is helping to support other firms and suppliers in the region with the company’s procurement and overall expenditure and the spending of its employees.”
BT’s investment of more than £3 billion in fibre broadband across the UK includes the company working in partnership with the government, local authorities and other bodies to help make the technology even more widely available across the region, especially in rural areas.
In the UK as a whole, BT and EE’s total GVA contribution in 2015/16 is assessed at £23.1 billion and it supports 259,000 jobs directly and indirectly.
