New BT Group hub for 2,500 people opens in Bristol

BT Group has opened its new flagship office in Bristol for 2,500 colleagues.

The brand new 13-storey waterfront office, close to Bristol Temple Meads station, will become one of the company’s key hubs in the UK and home to specialist and skilled roles from across BT Group, including EE, BT Business and Openreach.

BT announced last year that it is recruiting 170 new roles to Bristol by 2024 into its in-house digital division, in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, cloud design and machine learning. BT Group also announced recently that it will recruit nearly 50 new apprentices and graduates in Bristol as part of its September 2023 intake.

The new state-of-the-art building features the latest IT and smart building technology and a range of flexible workspaces, restaurant and cafes to help colleagues collaborate and get their work done.

It also boasts a rooftop ‘wildflower meadow’ and a number of terraces with panoramic views of the city, to help promote wellbeing among colleagues.

The 190,00 sq. ft building, Assembly Bristol, is part of BT Group’s major programme* to modernise the company’s workspaces and reduce its number of locations in the UK from more than 300, to around 30.

Brent Mathews, BT Group Property Director, said: “This new BT Group hub in Bristol is really exciting for the company and for the city and wider region. It will become one of the company’s main UK hubs.

“The building will bring a range of specialist teams together into a brilliant, modern space that will help us work better together and attract and retain the best people. We still see an important role for the office, where colleagues can come together to connect, learn and develop their skills. This is particularly important for younger people and those at the start of their careers.

“Bristol is one of the UK’s leading cities for innovation and technology, so it was a natural choice for us to locate one of our flagship UK offices here, where we’re actively recruiting hundreds of new colleagues.”

Ben Rhodes, CBI South West Regional Director, said: “It’s great to see BT Group complete the move to its new flagship office at Assembly Bristol.

“It’s a fantastic, modern building and will become one of the company’s key hubs in the UK. It’s a big vote of confidence in Bristol and the wider South West region and a boost for high quality, skilled jobs.”

As well as the rooftop meadow, the building features other eco-credentials, including its heating system which is supplied by the low-carbon district heating network. The new office was also designed to encourage colleagues to travel there by public transport or by walking, cycling or other active travel. The new office has parking for around 270 cycles as well as changing rooms, lockers and showers.

Notes

BT Group’s new state-of-the-art hub in Bristol is part of the company’s Better Workplace Programme, one of the largest workplace improvement schemes of its type ever undertaken in the UK. The five-year programme will see the company shift from having around 300 locations in the UK to around 30, with a focus on creating new, modern workspaces. The company has already opened new flagship offices in London and Birmingham, and a new regional hub is opening soon in Manchester.

BT Group has a significant presence in the South West of England, employing a total 8,000 people across the region, with a further 770 employed as contractors. BT Group together spent around £700 million with suppliers based in the South West region. According to independent analysis from consultancy firm Hatch, BT Group’s activities in the region provided a knock-on boost of £2 billion to the South West economy in 2021/22.