How BAT is cutting £600 million and 5,500 jobs by handing work to Accenture
Key Points
- BAT cutting 5,500 jobs globally by end of 2026
- Further 3,500 roles moved to Accenture, Systems Ltd and ITC Infotech
- 9,000 roles affected in total; US excluded
- Fit2Win targets £600m annual savings by 2028
- BAT shares down 1.6% in London
British American Tobacco is axing 5,500 jobs and shifting a further 3,500 roles to outside firms as its Fit2Win overhaul chases £600 million in annual savings.
The maker of Lucky Strike and Vuse said on Monday (29 June) that Fit2Win, the cost-cutting programme it launched last year, will hit around 9,000 roles worldwide, close to a fifth of its workforce outside the US, the one market left out of scope.
Of those, roughly 5,500 jobs go by the end of the year. The other 3,500 are less cut than handed over: they move to the “strategic partners” BAT is leaning on to run the work more cheaply.
Chief among them is Accenture, the Dublin-based consulting group BAT signed up in July 2025.
Where the roles are going:
- Information, digital and technology roles in Poland and Romania go to ITC Infotech in Bengaluru
- Service hubs in Costa Rica, Mexico, Poland, Romania and Malaysia, plus supply operations in the UK and Singapore, transfer to Accenture
- Some Pakistan roles move to Systems Ltd, a Lahore technology firm
BAT has also spent the past 18 to 24 months consolidating its factory network, a review that took in the closure of its Heidelberg plant in South Africa. Most of the changes have already been confirmed with staff, with the remaining consultations still running under local rules.
Chief Executive Tadeu Marroco said BAT was building a “future-ready organisation that is more agile, cost disciplined and technology enabled,” and said the company was focused on supporting affected colleagues through the change.
The blunter figure underneath the messaging is 9,000, the roles BAT is removing or outsourcing to make the savings target land.
Investors were unconvinced. BAT shares fell 1.6% to 4,676p in London on Monday morning, and slipped 1.3% in Johannesburg.
Reuters and Bloomberg have framed the programme as an AI-driven push, reporting that automation and data analytics are reshaping how much of the work BAT still needs people for. BAT itself prefers the gentler vocabulary of agility and discipline.
