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The move will see BT bolster its customer service centres in Newcastle and Plymouth
BT has pledged to bring all of its customer service call centres back to the UK and Ireland by 2020, closing its offshore customer service units.
The announcement was made by Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer Division, at an industry event in London this week.
"BT runs the UK’s most advanced mobile and broadband networks, but our customers demand better connections, and the best service no matter where they are. We’re investing across BT, EE and Plusnet so that we can provide our customers with the widest choice of products and services, on the best networks, and with the best service in the UK,” he said.
BT has had a difficult few weeks, announcing 13,000 job cuts and reporting a challenging set of financials for Q1 2018. However, the UK’s incumbent telecommunications operator has set its sights on reinvigorating itself and becoming an industry pioneer. Analysts argue that in order to do this, BT will need to put the customer at the heart of everything it does, improving customer service ratings as it goes. The move to bring its call centres back to the UK and Ireland should go some way to achieving this goal.
“The recent news that BT is to bring its call centres back to Britain by 2020, comes as a stark reminder as to the changes the UK’s telecommunications market is enduring.
“Competition is now at an all-time high, not only from established companies looking to expand their operations, but also from new businesses looking to enter the marketplace, both of which have played a key part in BT pledging to relocate its call centres to Newcastle and Plymouth," said Reuben Singh, CEO at customer service specialists alldayPA and Isher Capital.
“This decision from BT shows forward thinking on its behalf, to preserve its client base, by listening to customer complaints about the use of foreign customer service staff that was repeatedly driving service users away".
