TODAY is probably the world’s biggest ever redundancy party. Thousands of British Telecom employees will be celebrating becoming former British Telecom employees. In fact there’s never been a Black Friday quite like it. More than 30,000 jobs are to be shed this year, of which 19,000 go today. And with generous redundancy payouts for them all, the mood promises to be one of Gold Rush fever. As if everyone has won the pools.

Which has led to speculation that the pubs will be awash with BT chaps waving fat cheques and drinking themselves silly after organising a giant conga out of the BT headquarters.

There have been parties all week. Parties all round the country. Yesterday the celebratory wrist exercises started at 11.30 am. The venue? Upstairs at The Sir Christopher Wren pub in the shadow of St Paul’s, within a square mile of HQ and about a dozen other BT buildings.

One man drinks three pints before midday. ‘”Downstairs in the function room other BT folk are ringing the changes. The room has been booked from 12.30 until the evening and up to 150 people are expected. But there isn’t a Beattie in sight. ‘The assembled party goers are all male.

Bill is counting 20 lots of £20 notes and leaving them behind the bar to pay for the drinks. ‘Some of them just leave a credit card behind the bar,’ says landlady Julie Wood. ‘We’ve had a party every day this week. Some go on all day.’ After all, they’ve had their salary slips, so they know the redundancy money is in their accounts.

‘The atmosphere’s like the Notting Hill Carnival,’ says one Invisible Man – like many, he signed the Official Secrets Act in the days when BT employees were civil servants and doesn’t want to be named. ‘Some of The Suits are getting £200,000 pay-offs. And people in their twenties are getting deals that exceed £20,000.’ This Invisible Man wears a white short-sleeved shirt and grey slacks, called ‘BT Image Clothes’ by these folk.

Employees have been raring to accept voluntary redundancy. The revellers tell stories of the faxes that have been pouring out of the machines in BT over the last few weeks. One is an unprintable version of the song Please Release Me Let Me Go. Another is a tasteless joke involving Princess Diana. ‘’

Stories of those who have been turned down are legion. ‘I know a whole department which applied,’ says bearded Alex, who has taken off a half day to be at this party. Unusually, he is still employed, and happy. ‘One guy had a terrific fight. It was war. He was shouting and thumping at the table trying to get out. The ones who have asked to go and haven’t been allowed are incredibly bitter.

‘One technical officer was told he could go. He sold his house and got a place at college and a grant – and then he got a letter saying he couldn’t leave. ”

Another man whose application was accepted adds: ‘There are people who have ordered cars in the belief that they’re going to get redundancy, and they’ve been turned down.’ He is 54 years old. ‘I was turned down twice. I’m glad – because this is a much better offer.’

An anonymous engineer of 54 is holding the party today. He has left the company after 33 years. ‘I’m happy to go,’ he says, with a grin. ‘I won’t look for another job. I’ve got plenty to occupy myself at home. Only time will tell if I’ve got enough money never to work again.’ The music blares. How does he feel about his job prospects? ‘You can always take early-morning cleaning jobs if you’ve got to make ends meet.’

His friend, a man with a kindly face and coloured shirt, has also worked for the company for 33 years. He’s divorced and has three children over 18. ‘I used to enjoy the job, but morale’s got so low now.’ He’s drinking bitter shandy to stay sober. ‘I’ve already been to a party on the Regalia boat this week.’ Nearby a man pretends to kiss his friend with abandon on the cheeks. ‘I’ve retired,’ he continues, with glee. He says he’s been counting the hours since he was told in April that he could go. ‘When people ask what I do, I’m going to say I’m a ‘pensioner bumming around’. I’m going to spend every day playing golf. I’ve got to go to the dole office to get national insurance credits. If a job comes up I bet I’ll get it,’ he says morosely. ‘But I don’t want one.’ He’s having his Redundancy Party on Friday. ‘I’m putting £200 behind the bar.’ ”’

Dave Flack, 27 and single, has long hair and a gold earring. He wears jeans and T-shirt. He doesn’t mind being named. ‘”He has worked for 11 years, doing private wire maintenance. Latterly he was paid a salary of £19,000. ‘I don’t have a job to go to. I’ll probably do part time work for BT through Manpower.’ Why did he decide to leave? ‘Because I wanted a change.’ He also got ‘over £20,000′ redundancy. ‘‘Hopefully I’ll be able to buy a house.’

Chairman Iain Vallance hasn’t joined them. He’s out of town today at the BT AGM in Birmingham. ‘He’s a dove,’ says the 54-year-old would-be golfer. ‘He really knows how to look after people.’

Down the street, more former BT employees are revelling al fresco outside the Master Gunner pub. This is the party for Rick Hullett, who is bald, genial and drinking whisky. They’re all signing someone’s leaving card which reads ‘congratulations’. It’s 2pm and the atmosphere is like that in a coach of football fans. Lots of roars and cheers.

Andy Yates, 30, is ‘happy’ to leave after 14 years. He’s getting ‘over £30,000′. ‘I’m going to North London University to do computing and information technology.’

There are 20,000 people who have been refused a redundancy package because of oversubscription.

‘”‘”‘”-£ So what of the conga? ‘What!’ says a former engineer. ‘With all the people leaving, it would clog up London.’

BT: THE FACTS * 19,000 jobs will go today with another 11,000 to be axed by the end of the year. Payoffs range from between £17,000 to £204,000.

* 35,000 jobs have been cut in the past two years.

* BT made profits of £3 billion in the last financial year – £250 million a month between October and December, or £95 a second.

* BT has announced a 27.8 per cent fall in pre-tax profits for the first quarter to 30 June this year.

* Chairman Iain Vallance last year received a salary increase of 43 per cent taking his basic pay and bonuses to £534,000. This year’s 12.5 per cent increase if matched to bonuses could take his pay to well over £600,000. * The company, which was privatised in 1988, has 26 million customers, three quarters of whom rent phones at £17.88 a year.

* Complaints about BT rose to almost 41,400 last year, up from 38,530 in 1990 according to official regulator Oftel.

* Oftel has ordered BT to lower connection charges from £152.75 to £99. Also ordered a review of charges.

* BT uses 45,000 tons of paper for Yellow Pages directories, 2,300 tons in photocopier machines, 1,750 tons in brochures and publications and 25 tons for business cards.

* Maureen Lipman and the Beattie advertisement campaign was dropped in favour of the £20 million Get Through To Someone campaign. March 1992. * A £12 million campaign was launched with police to defeat obscene callers in July 1992.