TalkTalk cuts 580 jobs in restructure

Approximately 580 staff will lose their jobs at the ISP TalkTalk following the announcement of plans to restructure the organisation, TalkTalk confirmed on Thursday.

TalkTalk says that the restructuring is necessary as a result of its rapid growth and to ensure that it can offer "affordable and accessible broadband for all".

"The launch of free broadband in 2006, followed by the acquisitions of AOL Broadband and Tiscali UK, have made TalkTalk by far the UK's largest next-generation network," chief executive of TalkTalk Dido Harding said in a statement. "This has brought immense benefits of scale but has also meant that TalkTalk has effectively grown as three separate businesses serving the consumer and business-to-business (B2B) markets, supported by a network division, each with its own IT, HR and finance function."

TalkTalk says that around 580 people will lose their jobs as a result of the restructure and that face-to-face discussions with staff will begin immediately. The new organisation is expected to be in place by April.

As part of the shift TalkTalk's B2B division, currently known as Opal, will be rebranded as TalkTalk Business.