Walking the Walk

TalkTalk has always had a strong set of company values. And as the business embarks on a new phase, a new set of values will underpin its journey. We believe values should be shaped by collective principles, beliefs and standards of behaviour. What is thought to be important in life. And there was no better way to explore, adopt and create a brand new set of values than with current colleagues. Th...

Affordable connectivity is no longer a luxury, but increasingly viewed as a necessity. Data usage has soared since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with people relying on broadband more than ever before. With face-to-face support restricted at DWP job centres and training and job support moving online during the pandemic, TalkTalk was approached by the DWP to help support jobseekers. The connec...

She’s normally seen presenting on Sky Sports from golf courses around the world as a correspondent. But Sarah Stirk has another mission – to give young women the confidence and opportunity that she was offered earlier on in her life by a mentor who took her under her wing. She set up the Reach Next Generation summits for girls aged 11-15 to meet role models and get inspired about the possibilities...

At the start of the pandemic, Ian was 24 stone and ‘fed up’ with himself. As a child, he was victim to sexual abuse – something he still carries on his shoulders today. He suffered from depression, anxiety and mental ill health because he didn’t speak out. Over the years, he’s learned to deal with it in his own ways, talk about it and, selflessly, created a foundation to help others who might be e...

Digital is a fundamental part of our children’s lives now – when the pandemic hit, our lives became underpinned by technology for work, education and relationships. And while it was a huge saviour, many young children were thrust into this online world without a lot of preparation. Parents worry about bullying and graphic content, amongst other things, and that’s where Internet Matters comes in. A...

Lockdown and remote working when you’re in charge of monitoring the service level of a network brings its own challenges. Service level manager Stephen Cooper tells presenter Dominic Laurie all about how he brings IT and networks to life through pictures…another of the many angles to working in tech…and how he’s had to adapt through the last year. But Stephen’s spare time is very different to brea...

We've had a year of unprecedented data usage since the start of the pandemic and the hybrid working model is here to stay. So fast, reliable broadband in every room has never been more important. And this week we announced that we’re the first major ISP in the UK to offer the award-winning Amazon eero 6 and eero Pro 6 routers to our Future Fibre customers. Using the power of Wi-Fi 6, Amazon eero w...

When the pandemic hit, we were all affected in different ways. Some more than others. For Sophie Eccleston, it caused unemployment. She previously worked in customer service and is a full-time carer for her mum and grandma. And she was unsure what her next steps would be before she came across the Kickstart Scheme and found herself with two placement offers from TalkTalk. Proving herself a hard-wo...

The last year has been challenging for every one of us, for different reasons. Not least those who have been looking for a job. One such person is Angel Thomas who joined us thanks to the new Government Kickstart Scheme. Prior to the pandemic, Angel’s dream was centred around arts and performance. When Covid hit, she spent hours and hours searching for opportunities only to be told she didn’t have...

Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest on the pitch during a Euro match shocked the world of football. What happened to the Danish player is rare. However it certainly isn’t unheard of. Something similar happened to our colleague Emma Brennan in an equally dramatic setting: an operating theatre, only months after becoming a new mum. Thankfully, four years later she has a thriving career at TalkTalk, a...

It’s Pride month 2021, and this week’s podcast guest is Kickstart Internal Communications Executive Cat Heathcote. Things have changed and we no longer label each other as just male or female – presenter Dominic Laurie talks to Cat about what it’s like to be non-binary, the journey to realising who you are and the value of support around you. From a young age, Cat didn’t feel like they fit in and...

June is Pride Month and this year we are talking about how we can be better allies, better friends and a better team. Our employee network, TalkPride, turns 3 this month and we’re proud of the community we have created. Todd Bennett founded TalkPride and works to promote LGBTQ+ awareness to the business and link TalkTalk with local and important events and calendar dates. Rachael Wood, a member of...

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) works to make the internet a safer place. Its vision is the global elimination of child sexual abuse imagery online. Working with partners worldwide – industry, charities, governments, law enforcement agencies and other hotlines – IWF is working to find a global solution and we spoke to CEO Susie Hargreaves about the latest campaign about self-generated content....

Two broadcasters meet for Volunteers Week: Ken Anton started volunteering for Hospital Radio in Dundee in 1976, while still at school. Now a trustee and secretary of Northern Air Hospital Radio in Manchester, Ken’s passion is still the same as it was 45 years ago. In his spare time, Ken is a bell ringer at his local church and has also published a book about his own family history. Day-to-day, Ken...

Chloe Fisher goes by the name of Manc Yogi. The perfect name for somebody who teaches yoga in Manchester. When the COVID pandemic hit, Chloe’s career was turned upside down. She said she wasn’t going to switch her classes to online sessions because yoga is something she enjoyed with her clients face-to-face. But this new journey she’s on presents even bigger opportunities. Friends across the globe...

Managing your mental health in the workplace is something we wouldn’t have talked about much a few years ago. But things have changed. Society for one. But the COVID pandemic brought work into our homes for many people - and worlds inevitably collided. One person who has seen the effect of this on not just himself but others is Lee Rogers who runs TalkTalk's mental wellbeing network. He's seen the...

Steve Johnson started losing his sight as a very young man, and now he’s lost almost all of it. However, he works at TalkTalk, on highly detailed projects, marshalling and organising huge amounts of information, using excel and lots of different bits of kit. He’s also a skier and fitter than the vast majority of the rest of us. Someone to learn from and be inspired by. Presented by Dominic Laurie.

In a competitive world, TalkTalk needs the best talent available. That means getting access to potentially great candidates wherever they may be. And holding on to them once they join. Given women are historically underrepresented in the world of tech and telecoms, that’s an opportunity for TalkTalk to hire exceptional talent. That job falls to Lisa Adkin, inclusion lead at TalkTalk, and Darragh L...

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability, affecting around one in 100 people in the UK. It influences how a person communicates and how they experience the world around them. However, it does not mean they can't fit into the world of work. Far from it. Theo Albert, a young man from London with autism, has a job he loves - planning rail timetables with Network Rail. He's able to combine a job...

Many of us have been worried about getting COVID. But for Kat Lawrenson, it wasn’t getting the virus that was the problem – it was what happened afterwards. Months after contracting it, the TalkTalk employee was hit with side effects so serious that she’s convinced she’s only around today because of the quick wittedness of her husband and a locum doctor. A year on from the start of the COVID pande...

We learned in the last episode of Walking the Walk how valuable it is for women in traditionally male dominated careers to have their own networks. But one message that comes through often is that mutual support isn’t enough. At TalkTalk we recognise the importance of Allyship – noone more so than Ian McDonald, who says that men have to step up too. Presented by Dominic Laurie.

Having a supportive network is one of the most common routes to success in business. But in careers that have traditionally been a male domain, those networks have often resembled a bit of a boys club. That’s now changing – especially in the world of tech. But it wasn’t always the case. A few years ago, when times were a bit different, my colleague Lizzie Kelly-Dyson decided to create a space that...

Jen Mossop Scott has a job that demands a comprehensive understanding of all the various technology systems TalkTalk uses, which, as one of the UK’s biggest ISPs, is a significant number. However, she began her journey a million miles away from where she is now. Not just because she grew up on the other side of the world to Salford, TalkTalk’s home city. But also because she began her studies in t...

The world of work in this pandemic has been hard for most of us. Some have lost jobs. Others have kept them but had to work in a strange new challenging outside environment of masks and social distancing. Others still have worked from home and are dealing with hours of video calls without the usual camaraderie of colleagues. Difficult for most of us. But what if you are profoundly deaf? How do you...

Charmaine Connors breaks the mould of who you think an apprentice might be. She isn’t in her late teens and working in manufacturing. Instead, she only went to college at 29, did a degree at 34, and learned to code at 36. She’s also a proud mum to an 11 year old son. In the first episode of Walking the Walk, Charmaine tells us how being an apprentice at TalkTalk has changed her life, and how she s...