BT plays a major role in the economic, business and community life of the UK's regions and nations.
BT's regional teams across the UK, including our offices in Wales and Scotland, are uniquely positioned to work in partnership across the whole of the company, leading BT people to design solutions to meet the challenges and issues of their regions and local areas. The strength of these teams is that they are all based locally and live, play, work and do business in their regional communities which enables them to truly understand what makes those communities tick, and know the issues which affect them.
With almost 431,800 people employed directly and indirectly by BT in the UK, the company makes a substantial contribution to the national economy. Indeed, BT activities support almost 1.7 per cent of all employment in the UK, a considerable contribution for a single company. As well as direct employment and investment, BT provides significant support to business organisations, local community organisations, sports and the arts both through direct funding and the provision of in-kind contributions.
The insight and understanding we gain from our local relationships and our in-depth knowledge of BT's huge resources and capabilities means we are best able to design and promote technology-neutral programmes and partnerships across the UK to support government initiatives and help stimulate business growth. For example, we are highlighting how flexible working practices and solutions can bring benefits across the country to many businesses and interest groups, and can help solve the environmental dilemmas of climate change. And we are now also actively involved in the creation of Wi-Fi 'wireless cities' and other initiatives to foster connected communities.
We also actively support local and regional communities with programmes that enable more people to benefit from new technology through digital inclusion projects.
