Communication giant BT's massive £3bn impact on the East of England economy is revealed in a new study.
The company supported nearly 55,000 jobs across the region in 2022 - and had a big knock-on effect on the performance of region, the Economic Impact Report shows.
BT's Adastral Park at Martlesham is a major contributor, with BT and BT contractors accounting for 3,100 jobs and a £590m boost to the East Suffolk district, according to the study by Hatch Urban Solutions.
A total of 2,500 people are employed at the Adastral site - while others work for Openreach, BT's infrastructure arm.
Adastral is one of the group's key long-term locations as it pares down its 300 UK sites to around 30 - and is home to its research and development labs as well as the Innovation Martlesham Tech Cluster.
Hatch's study of the 2021/22 financial year shows BT spent around £1.5bn with suppliers based in the East of England and that 9,290 full-time equivalent BT Group employees live in the region.
That equates to the group employed one in every 230 employees working in the private sector.
It also supported one in every 40 employees working in the private sector and generated £1 in every £60 in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution, according to the study.
The company is currently investing in a major rollout of full-fibre broadband and 5G across the UK.
BT Group chief executive Philip Jansen said: "BT Group plays a vital role at the heart of the UK economy. We're one of only a handful of companies that serves customers in every corner of the country.
"We've continued our major investment in building next generation full fibre and mobile connectivity rapidly across the UK. We've already reached 9.6 million premises with full fibre, and our 5G mobile network now reaches 60% of the UK population.
"The benefits to families and businesses are huge - new jobs, economic growth and innovation, across every nation and region.
"We’re also transforming BT Group so that we’re fit to power the UK economy of the future. Our new state-of-the-art offices, spread across the UK, are a central part of that, bringing colleagues together in brilliant spaces that will enable collaboration and help us to better serve our customers.”
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