850 jobs to go at British Gas
November 14, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has announced that it will be axing 850 jobs.
The news comes after Centrica had to revise its profit forecasts following the unseasonal autumnal weather which has led to a massive decrease in the household and business consumption of gas and electricity.
For the first 10 months of the year, gas consumption fell by 17% compared to last year, and electricity consumption was down by 3%.
As a result, the operating profit for 2011 could be £100 million lower than expected, and the job cuts are therefore needed to save on costs.
The jobs are to go from the services business, with management and support positions targeted. But the remaining 34,000 employees across the group will also be worried as Centrica confirmed that it could not rule out further cuts.
The company announced that it has to provide value for money for its customers in order to stay competitive, and it therefore had to reduce its costs by cutting back on staff numbers.
British Gas has seen 200,000 customers leave recently, according to the Mirror, after it increased its energy prices during the summer. Perhaps customers have now started to seek out better deals before the winter arrives.
Whether the cuts will make British Gas more competitive is yet to be seen. With higher gas and electricity prices across the board, it is getting more difficult to find a better deal. However, comparison websites are still the place to go if you want to find a cheaper energy deal before the really cold weather hits.
