TalkTalk moving national HQ and hundreds more jobs to Salford

21 November 2018

Categories: Digital and Technology

Listed telecoms giant TalkTalk has reaffirmed its faith in Greater Manchester’s ability to host major tech businesses by announcing that it will relocate its national headquarters from London to Salford.

Hundreds of employees at the £1.7bn turnover FTSE 250 firm’s London HQ will be asked to join 1,500 staff within TalkTalk’s technology and business teams at its Soapworks site in Salford Quays.

TalkTalk says it will start recruitment for hundreds of new positions in the new year, in part through the continued expansion of its graduate and apprenticeship programmes.

Announcing its decision to move its HQ out of the capital, TalkTalk said the success of its 2017 move to the Soapworks had “exceeded expectations, improving collaboration between teams, supporting a more flexible working environment and enabling the company to attract and retain the best talent”. The state-of-the-art site replaced previous offices in Warrington and Irlam.

Tristia Harrison, Chief Executive of TalkTalk, said:

“We’re excited to be moving our headquarters to Salford. We’ve always had a base in the north west, but we want to build on that heritage and create a world-class campus for the whole business.

Bringing all of our teams together will make us a simpler business, where it’s easier for teams to work together and deliver the very best service for customers.”

TalkTalk’s decision to build on the success of its Salford base follows a series of major coups for Greater Manchester, which has also been selected as a base by Tech Mahindra, Amazon, Moonpig, GCHQ and Moonpig in recent months.

While MediaCityUK’s highest profile tenants include traditional media organisations including the BBC, ITV and Dock10, the area has becoming increasingly successful in attracting major international tech employers.

Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said:

“Salford is already home to the second largest cluster of digital businesses outside London and the city is working hard to grow the digital skills and talent for the future. TalkTalk relocating their headquarters and executive team here and creating hundreds of new, high quality, technical, digital jobs speaks volumes for the success of our investment in a digital future.

TalkTalk has a long-standing and very warm relationship with the city and local communities, so I’m delighted to hear of this further investment. It is an exciting new chapter in Salford’s success story as the fastest growing economy in Greater Manchester.”

The Soapworks is the name given to the redeveloped former Colgate Palmolive factory in Ordsall, Salford, which now forms part of the larger Salford Quays regeneration area, complementing Exchange Quay and MediaCityUK.

Tim Newns, Chief Executive of MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency, said:

“TalkTalk is one of the UK’s largest digital telecommunications companies and it’s a massive boost that they have made the decision to add their full HQ to the already substantial operations they have at Salford Quays.

“Having the headquarters of major digital companies in the area, with the influence that brings, is an important piece of the jigsaw for Greater Manchester’s digital ambitions and proves that Greater Manchester is fast becoming one of Europe’s preeminent digital hubs.”