BT is creating more than 100 new apprenticeship and graduate jobs in the East of England this year as it invests to ensure the UK remains one of the world’s leading digital economies.

Apprentices will be recruited in areas including Colchester, Chelmsford, Ipswich, Brentwood, Cambridge, Bedford, Bury St Edmunds, Luton and Peterborough.

A large proportion of the apprenticeship and graduate intake will be based at BT’s research campus at Adastral Park, near Ipswich. The research centre is at the forefront of developing future communications networks and services, including G.fast, which will be used to deliver ultrafast broadband in the coming years.

Across the UK, BT will employ about  1,400 new apprentices and graduates in a range of roles from cybersecurity and software development to research and innovation. The roles will be spread across the company with mobile phone operator EE and BT’s local network business, Openreach, both taking on large numbers as will BT’s research and development arm.  BT is investing billions of pounds on the roll out of superfast fibre broadband and some of the new recruits will work on that programme as the company seeks to help the UK maintain its leading position among major European nations.

Some other new recruits will be working in cyber security, an increasingly important area for governments and companies around the world. BT is one of the largest suppliers of cyber security solutions and the new recruits will bolster that business as it seeks to expand.

Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT, said: “Technology is changing all the time and companies need to support and train young people to develop the skills required for successful careers in essential areas such as science, engineering and IT.  The UK has been ranked as the leading digital economy in the G20 for the past five years, and our investment in these people will help this continue.”

Dave Hughes, BT’s East of England regional director, described the recruitment as “more excellent news for our region”.

He said: “These apprenticeships and graduate jobs offer great opportunities for people in the East of England to be part of one of the world’s most exciting and rapidly-developing industries and one of the UK’s leading companies.

“The new recruits will play a vital role in providing essential services and helping the region’s businesses and households make the most of technologies, which are transforming the way we live and work.”