British Gas to close office – job losses

20th April 2016 | Commercial Energy

British Gas has announced its intention to close its Oldbury, West Midlands office, where 684 staff are employed in call centre and office work, supporting the company’s engineers attending call-outs and mending boilers.

This announcement comes just two months after its residential reported a 31% increase in profits to over £570m.

The work will be shared out to other sites in Stockport, Leicester and Uddington near Glasgow.

Ian Cohn, CEO of Centrica, the owner of British Gas, announced job losses of 6,000 across the group in summer 2015, with 5,000 coming in the UK. The Big Six suppliers are under pressure from smaller, newer, independent rivals, such as Ovo Energy and First Utility, whose service and pricing is superior. Despite this, according to Ofgem, almost two thirds of domestic customers have never switched suppliers, even though it is easier than ever to do so – and usually saves money.

More information available at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/20/