Jane Thomas appointed new public affairs lead for the East of England

Jane Thomas, who managed key strategic projects for BT Group, has been appointed as the company’s new public affairs lead for the East of England.

The former strategic communications manager started her career as a graduate with the company and has worked in a variety of roles during her time with the firm. She will lead BT Group’s relationships with policymakers across the East of England, including engaging with local authority representatives and business leaders.

Jane’s most recent role was senior manager in the office of the chief executive, where she was responsible for managing projects including BT’s strategic partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF). She also managed relationships with high-level internal and external stakeholders.

Prior to her role in the CEO’s office, Jane worked in a number of different roles, including executive strategic communications where she led virtual teams to deliver strategic engagement programmes for senior BT executives at selected regional summits in places such as Africa, China and the Middle East. In another role she was responsible for creating and managing the ‘External Speaker Programme’ on behalf of BT Group and coordinated its engagement at target conferences.

Commenting on the new role, Jane, who lives in Felixstowe, said: “I’m really looking forward to working and making a difference in the region where I live, at what is also a very exciting time for the company.

“I will be responsible for maintaining key political relationships on behalf of BT Group with MPs, elected mayors and local councilors on any matters relating to our activity in the region. We are in the midst of a number of exciting projects, including the recent rollout of EE’s 5G network at Adastral Park, Ipswich. We are also investing significantly at the site, as part of The Better Workplace Programme, to benefit our staff and customers.”

As part of the Nations & Regions team, Jane 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 Jane in her new role. Her experience of key corporate projects and her stakeholder engagement skills will be a huge asset in her new role.

“BT Group contributes more than £4.7billion to the Midlands and East 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 Jane will build on our existing relationships, helping to lead and shape the public policy debate on improved digital services in the East of England.”

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