Orange will cut up to 450 jobs as part of a corporation-wide shake-up announced by its new chief executive Tom Alexander yesterday.

The mobile and broadband provider said the cuts to management and support functions are necessary to sharpen its customer focus by “removing duplication.”

It also called a halt to expanding its customer service centres offshore in locations such as India, as part of its wider goal to become the UK’s “best-loved” telecoms firm.

Although the move is not likely to result in an immediate cut to roles offshore, Pay Monthly customers will be the first to see their service teams returned to the UK.

To offset UK job losses, Orange will create 500 new jobs in its customer centres, shops and online stores, with 60 new outlets appearing on the high street by next year.

Mr Alexander, a former boss of Virgin Mobile who joined Orange last year, said he wants to offer UK customers a “level of quality” that no other mobile company can offer.

To this end, he vowed to work closely with Orange’s R&D unit to deliver “pioneering new technologies” over the next 12 months, including broadband-ready laptop computers.

As a result, the provider’s online resources will undergo a complete overhaul, meaning the retail experience, usability and credit management system will be rebuilt.

On the ground, it will roll out 450 new 2G base stations, alongside further investment in its 3G and HSDPA networks, to offer speeds of up to 7.2mbps within the next 18 months.

Yesterday’s shake up was tipped to include the ditching of the company’s slogan ‘the future’s bright, the future’s Orange’ though Alexander failed to signal it faces the chop.

Source:contractoruk