Energy supplier Ovo is planning to cut nearly a quarter of jobs from its workforce as part of a company cost-saving scheme amid the gas price crisis that has hit the industry.
The Bristol-headquartered firm, which employs 6,200 staff, is expected to announce more details on Thursday (Jan 13), including plans to make some 1,700 staff redundant as part of a voluntary redundancy programme.
According to Sky News , alongside the restructure Ovo is proposing a boost to minimum pay to 拢12 an hour and to "reshore" all customer-facing jobs to Britain.
Under the proposals, the business will also reportedly close a number of sites and consolidate to three locations - Bristol, London and Glasgow. It will also open a new academy in the Scottish city.
The news comes after a difficult few days for the company, which was founded by entrepreneur Stephen Fitzpatrick, after it advised customers to 鈥渉ave a cuddle with your pets鈥 to stay warm and save on heating bills. The company apologised and Mr Fitzpatrick was later widely praised on social media for his sincerity.
Ovo was established in 2009 and is now the third-biggest energy supplier in the 海角视频 - behind Centrica's British Gas and E.ON Next (a new brand merging customers from E.ON and npower) - and has about 4.5 million customers in Britain.
In 2019, the competition watchdog gave Ovo approval to carry out an acquisition of rival SSE's retail arm. The ruling by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) saw Ovo pay 拢500m for the larger firm's retail division.
However, in 2020, just months after the announcement, Ovo confirmed plans to axe 2,600 jobs through voluntary redundancy after the coronavirus crisis forced it to speed up integration plans. At the time it said around eight in 10 of the roles would be among the workers who came to Ovo as part of the SSE deal.
The latest announcement comes at a difficult time for the industry, which has seen tens of suppliers cease trading since 2021 amid rising wholesale gas prices.
In April, the price cap, which limits the amounts energy suppliers can charge, will rise. It is already at a record 拢1,277, but analysts at Investec think it could go up to 拢1,995. The increases are due to a major spike in global gas prices, which have been pushed up by high demand around the world.
Ovo declined to comment.
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