A TELECOMS firm is bringing hundreds of jobs to a North-East town, The Northern Echo can reveal.

More than 250 roles will be created at EE’s sprawling Darlington call centre hub next year.

The move will strengthen the mobile phone operator’s position as the town’s largest private employer, with nearly 3,000 staff answering customer queries from offices in the town.

Speaking exclusively to The Northern Echo, Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT, which took over EE in a £12.5bn deal last year, said the recruitment drive will lead wider plans to take on 500 staff at sister North-East bases.

Mr Patterson, a former ICI Wilton sponsored student, added it will provide EE with greater flexibility to meet consumer demand after it returned services based overseas to the UK and Ireland.

“Darlington is a key site for us, not just in the North-East but across the UK,” said Mr Patterson.

“It’s going from strength-to-strength and there is a good collection of high-quality people to hire from.

“They have a good attitude, digital skills and good personalities too.

“The accent is also important; people love speaking to North-East people.

“We returned services from abroad because that is what people want, they want local services.

“They understand that it costs a wee bit more, but that is what they want.

“Customer satisfaction is going up and EE’s complaints are at a record low; it seems to be working for us.”

Mr Patterson, who spoke to the Echo at EE’s Darlington site, based off the town’s Yarm Road, said the telecoms operator had given BT an extra edge, adding customer clamour for better connectivity will help extend its marketplace reach.

He said: “The telecoms sector is dynamic, there are always lots of things going on, especially in the build up to Christmas, and customer expectations are going up too.

“People are using more data and using their phones and tablets to watch video.

“Our geographic range is at 86 per cent, but we will not let up until we get to 95 per cent, which we will be over the next couple of years.

“The business is performing well and we are growing.

“The two cultures have come together better than we hoped for.

“We had to go through a long process (with the EE deal), which probably helped people get to know each other better and break down any misconceptions.

“We have been able to get the best of both cultures and EE is the highlight of the BT business at the moment.”

Mr Patterson said the strength of EE, which has further call centres on Tyneside and Wearside, has been a real positive for BT, which saw almost £8bn wiped off its stock market value following revelations earlier this year of an accounting scandal in its Italian business.

Bosses said they had uncovered years of “inappropriate behaviour”, which pushed BT on the back foot.

Mr Patterson was the subject of subsequent shareholder unrest, but told the Echo that the business has got itself back on an even keel.

“We have had one of two things go wrong this year, but we think, by and large, they are now behind us,” said Mr Patterson.

“When you are made aware of a fraud by your employees, it is a shock to the system and you ask yourself how it could happen.

“But we have taken action and sacked the people involved.

“There was one shareholder but I’m confident we are following the right strategy and I’m resilient enough to work through it too.”

Mr Patterson also said he was happy with the progress of Openreach, which controls the fibre connections behind UK broadband infrastructure, after regulator Ofcom’s recommendation it became a distinct company, adding BT’s broadcasting battle with Sky Sports for top-flight football, cricket and rugby coverage was providing further assurance.

He added: “Openreach is going well and the service is performing strongly.

“The new governance is working, and it means that the chief operator officer can have conversations with customers and degree of autonomy within the group.

“However, we are not complacent.

“I’m also ready proud of what we are doing with sport and we want it to be accessible to as many people as possible, which is why we sometimes have free-to-air games.

“There is a price worth bidding for and if we go beyond that then we will not bid.

“We know what the sport is worth to us.”