BT to shut call centres

British Telecom is to close a number of its call centres with the loss of jobs under a major reorganisation announced today.

Union officials fear that up to 4,000 jobs will be lost under the plans, which could face opposition.

Pierre Danon, chief executive of BT Retail, said a more modern call centre operation was needed to improve customer service and increase efficiency.

The telecoms giant will be spending £100m (€163m) to create a new generation of ‘‘multi-function customer contact centres’’.

BT guaranteed there would be no compulsory redundancies and said job cuts would be included in the previously announced figure of 13,000 across BT Retail.

The Communication Workers Union warned it would oppose the plans unless the impact on staff was agreed jointly.

BT has more than 150 call centres where services including directory inquiries, fault reporting, accounts and operators are based.

‘‘Creating a smaller network of leading edge, multi function call centres will inevitably mean the closure of a number of sites,’’ said Mr Danon.