BT has announced it is to cut more than 270 offices around the UK and focus its operations on 30 locations, one of which will be Edinburgh.

The Scottish capital is the only location north of the Border to be included so far, being named among the first eight of the locations that will house the firm's "workplaces of the future".

The move will see more than 300 BT office locations across the UK will be "consolidated to around 30" as part of a three-to-five-year programme to improve its workplaces across the UK.

The "Better Workplace Programme" will reduce the footprint to locations containing modern, future-fit buildings, including corporate offices, contact centres and specialist sites.

The company said it is the largest programme of its type in the UK. BT’s telephone exchanges will be retained by the Group.

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Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Ipswich , London and Manchester are the first towns and cities to be selected and will house a variety of the company’s operations.

The firm said it is a clear signal that BT is committed to the whole of the UK, with locations in all four countries and their capitals.

Though detailed plans of BT’s footprint in each location are still to be finalised, some existing BT buildings will be refurbished while others will see BT move into new offices.

BT Group plays an important role in the UK’s four countries and is responsible for generating £1 in every £75 produced across the UK, according to one independent report.

It also generated £22.8 billion to the UK’s economy in GVA, during the 2017/18 financial year.

All eight locations will benefit from 5G coverage.

Teams within the future-fit buildings will benefit from state-of-the-art mobile connectivity alongside the existing fibre connections.

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Philip Jansen, BT Group chief executive, said: “The Better Workplace Programme is about bringing our people together in brilliant spaces, and transforming the way we work.

“Revealing these eight locations is just the first step; we have dedicated teams working on identifying the best buildings to move into and which ones to redesign for the future.

"As a result of this programme, BT people will be housed in inspiring offices that are better for our business and better for our customers.”