BT provided a £142 million boost to the economies of Tayside and Fife over the last year, according to new figures.
A report from economic consultancy Regeneris commissioned by the telecoms giant found that BT directly employed 1,140 staff in Dundee during 2013 and its operations indirectly supported a further 270 jobs in the city.
The firm has a further 159 employees in Fife but its operations underpin almost 250 outside jobs in the region.
The report found that BT’s total gross value added (GVA) impact in Tayside and Fife was £142m over the past year with output in the two regions totalling £253m.
Across Scotland, the company employs 7,040 staff with a total GVA north of the border of £942m. The report found BT’s full employment impact in Scotland was larger than that of the nation’s petroleum and natural gas extraction sectors.
The BT workforce in Dundee, which is focused on Telephone House in Ward Road, is the third largest concentration in Scotland after Glasgow which has 1,980 workers and the 1,230 in Edinburgh.
“BT and its employees make a major contribution to Dundee’s economy,” BT Scotland director Brendan Dick said.
“They are a key part of its prosperity and economic well-being. BT is at the centre of every community in Scotland and our day-to-day work benefits every local authority area right across the UK.
“I’m also well aware that BT people throughout Scotland really want to contribute in a positive way to the communities in which they live and work.
“Every day BT employees help millions of people to communicate, do business, be entertained and stay informed. But BT’s role is more significant than even these massive figures suggest.
“In addition to the activities analysed in this comprehensive report, we are creating a high-speed fibre broadband network which will be essential to the future success of local businesses and households. The potential benefits to Scotland offered by that network are huge by any standards.”
The Regeneris report places BT’s UK-wide GVA contribution at £18.5 billion, with the company employing a total of 231,510 staff directly and indirectly. The author’s also found that BT spent £7.2bn with UK-based suppliers last year.
Stephen Nicol, managing director of Regeneris Consulting, said: “Our analysis confirms the sheer scale and reach of BT’s economic contribution to the UK and its constituent local economies.
“BT makes a contribution to every town or city across the UK. At the UK level £1 in every £70 of wealth created is attributable to BT: this is one of the single most important contributions to the UK economy by any firm.”