Openreach to create 200 jobs in Yorkshire

More than 200 engineering jobs are to be created in Yorkshire as telecoms firm Openreach begins a huge rollout of faster internet connectivity.
Openreach engineerOpenreach engineer
Openreach engineer

The new roles – across North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire – will see trainees join the country’s largest team of telecoms experts working to expand, upgrade, maintain and install services over Openreach’s national broadband network.

The 200 Yorkshire jobs are part of a wider national recruitment programme that will see more than 3,000 trainee engineers appointed.

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They will mainly be tasked with delivering the company’s ‘Fibre First’ programme, which will see Openreach’s Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology to millions of front doors.

Clive Selley, Chief Executive of Openreach said: “Openreach is ambitious for the UK and is determined to build full fibre as quickly as possible to ensure the country has a reliable broadband network capable of supporting future data-hungry services and applications essential for boosting productivity and sustaining our position as a leading digital economy.

“We’re making great progress towards reaching our target of upgrading three million homes and businesses to full fibre by the end of 2020 – reaching another 13k premises per week – and these new Yorkshire recruits will play a crucial role in that programme. Openreach is a people business and our new apprentices will enable us to fulfil our commitments, with an ultimate ambition to deliver the best possible connectivity to everyone, everywhere, equally, across the entire country.”

Alongside the latest recruitment drive, Openreach is also announcing 11 new locations where it will be building new FTTP networks during 2019, bringing the total number of towns, cities and boroughs at the forefront of the FTTP build to 25.

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The locations where Openreach is building FTTP networks during 2019 are Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, Bury, Croydon, Greater Glasgow region, Harrow, Merton, Redbridge, Richmond Upon Thames, Salford, and Sutton Coldfield.

The service was rolled out in Leeds last year.

Openreach also plans to publish details on its website detailing its build plans for the next 12 months, including the total number of exchange areas to be reached in each location.

A spokesperson said the company will update this information every three months.

Matthew Hemmings, Openreach’s director for fibre delivery in the North of England, said: “We want people from all walks of life to apply for roles at Openreach, to build a diverse workforce that reflects the hugely diverse communities we serve. Last year we successfully recruited more women than ever before – and this year we want to go even further.

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“Becoming an engineer can be an incredibly rewarding career, and we’re constantly improving our training and recruitment programmes, providing recognised qualifications, to make sure we attract and keep the best in the business.

“We’re investing heavily in upskilling our people, so they can now do more for customers in a single visit and we recently launched new career pathways to give our engineers a clear sense of the skills, accountabilities and experience they need to get where they want to be.”

The new Peterborough training school is one of 12 similar regional centres being built or upgraded across the country and, after Bradford, it’s the second facility to become fully operational under Openreach’s multi-million pound investment plans – with three more due in the next three months.

Openreach is a wholly owned and independently managed division of the BT Group.

Its revenues at its last set of results was reported at £5.1bn.