GMB Scotland Media Statement

GMB Scotland Media Statement

Responding to news this morning (Thursday 4 April) that energy giant Centrica is to close its City Park call centre operation in Glasgow, GMB Scotland Organiser Hazel Nolan said:

“We are hopeful that the bulk of staff affected can be redeployed back into the business and we’ll certainly be campaigning to sustain as many jobs as possible.

“But let’s be clear this is just one more example of a business going badly wrong and we are in the second wave of a 4,000 jobs cuts plan by 2020. The call centre closure is the tip of the iceberg; the Edinburgh call centre has already been told it's Pay As You Go function is to be outsourced or off-shored, and some 1,600 engineers have gone in the last two years while the service is haemorrhaging millions of customers.

“Morale is at rock bottom among the staff and consumers have lost confidence in the service against the backdrop of price hikes. Frankly, the performance of Centrica under the leadership of Iain Conn is a microcosm of the country itself - chronic cuts and no plan for the future. A vacuum in place of a robust energy and industrial policy is resulting in further job losses in the energy sector.

“This once great British institution is being run into the ground. It should be a force for good but instead it’s being run like a cut price contractor by a Chief Executive that’s bereft of any purpose or strategy.”

Ends

Contact: GMB Scotland Organiser Hazel Nolan on 07921 885786 or Peter Welsh, GMB Scotland Communications, on 07976 447077