South Tyneside signs £184-million deal with BT

South Tyneside Council has signed a 184-million shared services partnership with BT.

The deal is expected to save the authority in excess of 28 million over ten years, through the creation of a new shared services development centre to more effectively deliver local information communication and technology (ICT) based resources - including more self-services.

The contract will be delivered by a new BT subsidiary business, known as "BT South Tyneside", which it said will bring in at least 1,250 new jobs and provide a catalyst for more.

Councillor Iain Malcolm, South Tyneside's council leader, said: "The ultimate objective of this partnership is to set about the sustainable development of a knowledge economy in the area."

The deal also includes BT investment to set up a UK-wide local government headquarters in a new 51,000 square-foot business centre in the South Shields area. In future, the service provider said it would provide a number of BT services for other regions across the UK.

A 25-year veteran enterprise technology expert, Miya Knights applies her deep understanding of technology gained through her journalism career to both her role as a consultant and as director at Retail Technology Magazine, which she helped shape over the past 17 years. Miya was educated at Oxford University, earning a master’s degree in English.

Her role as a journalist has seen her write for many of the leading technology publishers in the UK such as ITPro, TechWeekEurope, CIO UK, Computer Weekly, and also a number of national newspapers including The Times, Independent, and Financial Times.