British Gas plans job cuts to lower costs
CENTRICA’S British Gas, the country’s biggest household energy supplier, said it would cut about 850 roles to lower costs just as official data showed unemployment hit its highest level in 15 years.
The job cuts will take place in British Gas’ services business, which employs about 10,000 people, and will affect back-office management and support roles.
“Household budgets are stretched, customers are looking for maximum value for money, and if we are going to remain competitive and offer the best prices for our customers, we need to reduce our costs,” a spokesperson for British Gas said.
“We have therefore reviewed resource levels in our services business, and are now proposing a reduction of around 850 roles.”
British Gas had raised domestic tariffs for gas by an average of 18 per cent, and for electricity by an average of 16 per cent in August.
British energy regulator Ofgem has said profit margins for energy firms have increased more than eight times since June as a result of rate hikes by the country’s six dominant energy companies.
Shares in Centrica closed down 2.4 per cent at 294.8p yesterday.