BT agrees £210m sale of London headquarters

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A view of the British Telecom (BT) headquarters in central London on March 10, 2017. British telecoms giant BT Group has agreed to legally separate its broadband unit Openreach to remedy concerns over competition in the sector, the company announced today. Created by BT in 2005, Openreach maintains tens of millions of copper and fibre lines connecting telephone exchanges to homes and businesses across the UK. / AFP PHOTO / CHRIS J RATCLIFFE (Photo credit should read CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/AFP/Getty Images)

BT has agreed the sale of its London headquarters as it pushes ahead with a radical turnaround plan.

Read more: BT may cut dividend to fund full-fibre rollout

The telecoms giant today said it has sold the BT Centre, its home since 1984, to Orion Capital Managers for £209.6m.

The deal for the 300,000 square feet building overlooking St Paul’s includes an initial leaseback agreement of 30 months. BT said it will use this time to move its headquarters to a new location in the capital.

The sale comes as part of a shake-up at the telecoms firm, which is hoping to turn around its fortunes under new boss Philip Jansen.

BT has unveiled plans to shut offices in more than 270 locations and cut roughly 13,000 jobs in a bid to cut £1.5bn in costs.

The company is also planning to move to modern premises in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Ipswich and Manchester. 

BT has pinned its hopes largely on the rollout of full-fibre broadband, and has upped its targets to reach 15m premises by the mid-202s.

But chairman Jan du Plessis last week warned the firm may cut its dividend over the coming years to help fund the new broadband network.

Read more: Labour play down BT renationalisation rumour

BT said it will announce details of its new headquarters shortly. 

Main image credit: Getty