The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
OVO Energy becomes major Perth employer
1,000 workers in Fair City change firms as SSE sells domestic energy business
OVO Energy has become one of the largest private sector employers in Perth as it completed the purchase of SSE’s domestic energy business yesterday.
The £500 million deal to buy SSE’s energy services arm means 3.5 million customers will transfer to Bristol-based firm OVO.
Around 8,000 staff – including around 1,000 based at SSE’s Perth contact centre – are now employed by OVO. They have been assured there will be no redundancies.
SSE customers will not notice any immediate change as OVO will operate the SSE brand under licence and their payments and tariffs will remain the same.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, chief executive and founder of OVO, said: “This marks the end of one chapter for OVO but, more importantly, the beginning of the next one with SSE Energy Services.
“We started OVO with a bold ambition to do better for customers and have stayed true to that vision ever since.
“We have an integration plan that leaders from both companies have collaborated on since September.
“There is a lot of work to do to bring the two businesses together, but we have a really strong combination of great talent, technology and customer centricity that will enable us to succeed.
“SSE’s history of excellence at scale combined with OVO’s innovative technology and our Plan Zero commitments mean that together, as one team, we can bring millions more people with us on our journey towards zero carbon living.”
The transaction means that OVO – which was formed just 10 years ago – is now the UK’s second largest energy supplier, behind British Gas.
Before the transaction, it had 1.5 million customers and around 2,000 employees.
Approval for the acquisition was given by the Competition and Markets Authority last month.
SSE said its future strategy was around developing, operating and owning renewable energy and electricity network assets.
SSE chief executive Alistair PhillipsDavies said: “We are very pleased to have completed this transaction, which we firmly believe is the best outcome for the business, its customers and its employees.”
SSE, which will retain its headquarters in Perth, previously tried to spin off its domestic division and combine it with Npower, but the merger collapsed in December 2018.
SSE’s shares rose 28.00p yesterday to close at 1,486.50p.