BT wins £9 million new North West business after sponsoring IFB

BT has won £9 million of new business with companies in the North West of England, following its lead sponsorship of the International Festival for Business.

BT Business has secured a three-year deal with European Metal Recycling (EMR), a global leader in metal recycling headquartered in Warrington, to upgrade its global, 170-site network and to provide data centre services in the UK and US.

BT has also signed a contract with Odeon, the largest cinema chain in the UK and Ireland, to provide wi-fi at 125 cinemas and at its headquarters in Manchester.

Further business was secured with a number of local businesses following BT’s sponsorship of Accelerate 2014, one of the key events at IFB.

Danny Longbottom, managing director UK SME, BT Business, said: “Having spent a lot of time at the IFB, I’ve seen the value it’s delivered first hand and have no doubt the experience will bring long-term benefits to the region and help those businesses that attended achieve their goals in the coming years.

“As well as being proud sponsors of the event, it’s also meant that BT Business has signed two new deals with companies based in the North West – EMR and Odeon. It’s also started us building even stronger relationships with other businesses across the region.”

Chris Sheppard, CEO of EMR, said: “BT put a very compelling global business package together for EMR, which will both simplify and enhance our telecommunications infrastructure.

“Having spent many years recycling obsolete copper cabling into profit for BT while they upgraded to fibre, it is good to witness, first-hand, the benefits of the new network. A real example of the sustainable economy in action.”

Sam Sahana, Group chief technical officer of Odeon, said: “We are delighted to be working with BT to enhance our customer experience throughout the UK.”

Max Steinberg, chair of IFB 2014, said: “IFB has been the biggest and most important business event in Britain for many years. BT has been a fantastic partner and has played a pivotal role in driving the profile of the Festival and promoting business growth.”

BT is one of the largest private sector employers in the North West, with more than 8,000 people in the region, and it works with many local businesses.

Through the Merseyside Connected project, BT is providing high-speed broadband to an additional 43,000 premises in the Liverpool City Region. The beginning of July marked the switch-on of Project Jennifer in Everton as one of the first street cabinets was completed.

It means that the vast majority of Merseyside – around 98% of businesses and homes – will have access to fibre broadband, via BT’s ongoing commercial fibre deployment and Merseyside Connected, by the end of July 2016.

BT was a lead sponsor of IFB, the 50-day business festival hosted in Liverpool which has been a global showcase for great British business.

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →