The brand team at BT Group has to challenge preconceptions about what the company does, as many people think they know this but do not realise it’s a tech company with an increasingly global outlook. Its team of eight has doubled since 2020, working with senior stakeholders to develop robust EVPs spanning BT Group, BT Business, EE, and Plusnet, delivering recruitment marketing campaigns. This has included a wide range of work from gender and disability campaigns for ED&I to tailored branding exercises for tech professionals in India.

The team takes an ‘in-house first’ approach, cultivating close relationships with partners who understand the group’s hiring challenges and will help them develop authentic solutions. There is a 50/50 gender split and a strong focus on personal development. One campaign celebrated women working in BT Group and challenged perceptions around gender, produced on a minimal budget because everything was managed in-house. Another campaign, for EE’s customer service recruitment, increased diversity and met targets after looking at best performers and longest stayers and translating this into an impactful campaign.

The team also provides strategic support to the business through an overall group attraction strategy, tailoring EVPs to support local recruitment needs, managing partnerships with LinkedIn, Indeed and other sites, and providing metrics and reporting. BT Group estimates that the in-house team has saved the company more than £1 million in the past year, alongside impressive improvements in diversity such as an increase in female, ethnic minority and disabled hires.