Orange and T-mobile Owner Cuts 1,200 Jobs

A man cycles past a T-Mobile shop in Fleet Street, London, on September 30, 2010. Everything Everywhere, formed in the UK merger of T-mobile and Orange, is cutting 1,200 jobs to reduce duplication. Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images

Everything Everywhere, the group formed in the merger of mobile phone firms Orange and T-mobile, has announced it is cutting 1,200 jobs in the UK in an effort to remove duplicated roles.

The cuts amount to 7.5 per cent of the 16,000-strong workforce created in the amalgamation of Orange and T-mobile earlier in the year. Everything Everywhere said the majority of the jobs that are going would be back office, headquarters, and management roles. But the firm does intend to keep two separate marketing teams, one dedicated to each brand.

Tom Alexander, chief executive of Everything Everywhere, said in a statement, “We need to ensure that we are operating with maximum efficiency, effectively serving our two brands while removing any unnecessary duplication from the business. It is therefore regrettable that some roles will need to be removed.”

News of the plans to cut jobs comes just days after the company announced revenues fell by 4.8 per cent and underlying profits slumped by 18.5 per cent during the last financial quarter. Everything Everywhere restated its goal of making £3.5 billion ($5.5 billion) in cost savings from the merger by 2014 in the statement released on Tuesday, September 28.

Everything Everywhere is jointly owned by Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, and currently operates 700 retail stores across the UK. The company still intends to expand its retail presence and network despite the cost-cutting measures.