Business in brief: BT | Borders & Southern | Industrial rentals | Wood Group

A ROUNDUP of the latest business news, as telecoms giant BT is set to recruit 400 extra engineers as it installs fibre broadband across the UK, whilst the Wood Group has won a £12.6 million extension to its contract with GDF Suez.

BT targets former armed–forces staff

TELECOMS giant BT is to recruit an extra 400 engineers to help with the roll-out of fibre broadband across the UK.

The firm’s Openreach division will recruit mainly ex-armed forces personnel, taking the total of engineers recruited this year to more than 1,000.

Openreach chief Olivia Garfield said: “Fibre broadband will be vital to the future health of the UK. It has the potential to transform the economy and help create thousands of jobs.”

Falkland tests raise hopes of new well

OIL explorer Borders & Southern saw its shares rise strongly yesterday after reporting positive results from the latest tests at a well off the coast of the Falkland islands.

The update, based on samples taken from the South Falkland basin, was seen as increasing the possibility of a second commercial oil and gas discovery in the area.

Shares in the company rose 12p, or 58.5 per cent, to 32.5p.

Industrial rentals on the increase

TAKE-up of industrial space rebounded in the second quarter to the highest level for two years, according to a survey by property firm DTZ.

In a total of 64 deals, 8.1 million square feet were filled in the UK in the three months to June, compared to 5.8 million in the first quarter and up 5 per cent on a year ago.

Steel Engineering’s move into 70,000sq ft premises in Renfrew was Scotland’s only letting of industrial size.

Wood Group’s $20m Thai deal extension

ENERGY services firm Wood Group GTS has won a $20 million (£12.6m) extension to its contract with French utility GDF Suez to maintain gas turbines at its power plant in Thailand.

The Aberdeen-based group originally signed the long-term maintenance deal with the former Thai National Power Company in 2004, and will now look after 16 turbines until 2025.

It said its systems can also generate extra revenues for operators by improving output.