TELECOMS giant BT Group has reopened its flagship headquarters building in Belfast after it underwent a multi-million pound revamp.
The refurbished Riverside Tower building at Lanyon Place will now be home to around 2,000 colleagues from BT Group, which includes EE, BT Business and Openreach.
Three years years ago Belfast was named as a significant long-term location for BT in its‘Better Workplace Programme’ – the largest workplace improvement and consolidation scheme of its type ever undertaken in the UK.
The five-year programme, which will be complete next year, is seeing BT rationalise hundreds of its offices across the UK and establish an estate of modern workspaces.
The new Belfast building boasts state of the art technology and flexible work and collaboration areas, and is central to the company’s future, providing environments for colleagues to come together to collaborate, learn, develop and share their experiences.
BT says it believes that inspiring office environments, combined with a flexible approach to home working, will play a vital role in its future and in the future local economies of its key hub locations.
The group’s property & facilities services director Brent Mathews said: “We’re really excited for colleagues moving into Riverside Tower following this significant investment in our Belfast flagship office.
“We want to bring our people together in an impressive and modern environment, transforming the way our teams work. This refurbishment represents a change in BT Group, one that is better for colleagues, customers and shareholders: easier to work with and for.
“We want our colleagues to be proud of where they work and to feel part of something brilliant, inspiring them to also continue to do the best that they can for our customers.
“This investment also marks a significant commitment in Belfast. As a major employer in the city, our presence will support local economic growth and employment opportunities.
“We recently announced plans to recruit 100 people into digital roles, such as Artificial Intelligence, software engineering and product management, as well as graduates and apprentice roles.”
Among those attending the formal opening were Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris and Belfast Lord Mayor Christina Black, who said it was a of confidence in the city that a company the size of BT was continuing to invest.
An independent economic report last year found that BT Group is responsible for directly generating £1 in every £110 produced in the north and employs around 7,300 people both directly and indirectly.
