It appears Kellys have not changed one bit. I took redundancy from BT in 2004. I then went to 'work' at Kellys a few months later collecting stb's for NTL. The job itself was very easy and was quite good in monetry terms for a while. Kellys, however, were an absolute pile of you know what to work for. It took us weeks or months to get cab keys, tools and paperwork. Others actually walked out during training as what they were promised during the induction was never going to materialize. At the time the economy was good and jobs were plentiful. Quite a few who walked had left good jobs after being fed the Kelly bulls**t and believing it.
The van issues were appalling. My first one broke down on my first day. The recovery contract didn't cover the new areas we were working. Kellys had to send their own recovery truck from Dunstable to get me. I then spent 4 hours in Dunstable waiting for another van. 9 hours in total unpaid.
Far too many stories to type on here but from an ex-BT and and ex-openreach contractors point of view I cannot believe Openreach have let Kellys back into BT. They were fine with the new poling erection work as they had a set amount of work per day. Letting them into customers houses though is a different kettle of fish and god forbid if they go into the exchanges!!!
I spoke to an old contact at Hays and even he was shocked by the level of hatred towards Kellys. Bunch of cowboys!!
I've still got contacts at BT Openreach, former colleagues I worked with either out in the field or in the exchanges. They hate the Kelly's contract with a vengeance. Constantly clearing up because of pricework and under trained 'engineers'.