Liz Needleman, a former director for Business in the Community, has been appointed as BT Group’s new public affairs lead for the North of England.

Having spent 15 years in various roles with the charity which promotes responsible business practice, she will now lead BT Group’s relationships with policymakers across the North of England region, including engaging with local authority representatives and business leaders.

Liz’s most recent role was England director for BITC where she worked with large corporate firms to maximise their collective impact on some of the most deprived areas of the country. She also previously served as operations director, leading the delivery of the charity’s community impact programmes.

Liz, who lives in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, also has previous telecoms experience having spent six years at T-Mobile working in channel development. Commenting on her appointment, she said:

“I am delighted to have joined BT and look forward to working with our many stakeholders across the north of England to ensure we understand the needs and priorities of the communities we serve.

“We are in the midst of a number of exciting projects, including the recent rollout of EE’s 5G network in several towns and cities in the north of England. This is happening alongside improving 4G coverage in other areas. We are also investing significantly in the region with better work places of the future to benefit our staff and customers.

“I’m also really excited by BT’s commitment to equip 10 million school children, families and businesses nationally by 2025 with the digital skills they need to live and work, and I look forward to supporting these programmes in local communities.”

As part of the Nations & Regions team, Liz is responsible for maintaining key political relationships on behalf of BT Group with MPs, elected mayors and local councilors on any matters relating to the Group’s activity in the region. She will also work closely with combined and local authorities, local enterprise partnerships, business and community organisations, to focus on the success and growth of the region’s economies.

Welcoming the appointment, Paul Coles, BT Group English regions director, said:

“I look forward to working with Liz in her new role. Her experience working with large corporates to consider their impact, as well as her previous telecoms experience will be a huge asset in her new role.

“BT Group contributes around £3.8 billion to the north of England economy* and plays an important role in the lives of everyone living and working in the region, from handling 999 calls, to connecting communities. I know that Liz will build on our existing relationships, helping to lead and shape the public policy debate on improved digital services in the region.”

Across the north of England in 2017/18, BT Group:

• Directly employed a total of 24,800 people (FTE, including contractors)

• Spent £1 billion with suppliers based in the region

• Generated £3.8 billion total GVA impact (including indirect and induced effects)

• Directly employed 1 in every 190 employees in the private sector in the region, and 1 in every 6 in the IT and Communications sectors

• Supported £1 in every £90 of GVA in the region’s economy and 1 in every 90 employees working the in the region’s private sector

About BT

BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services. BT consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2019, BT Group’s reported revenue was £23,428m with reported profit before taxation of £2,666m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London stock exchange.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com