Gas giant axes 4,000 jobs as customers quit

THE boss of British Gas yesterday blamed ‘political intervention’ for the loss of 750,000 customers.

Scots-born Iain Conn hit out at the Government’s energy price cap, as the company revealed plans for 4,000 more job cuts.

British Gas, which operates as Scottish Gas north of the Border, has already scrapped 6,000 roles in a battle to stay profitable.

After trimming costs by £750million since 2015, it plans to find another £500million of annual savings by 2020.

British Gas’s parent company Centrica said profits from selling gas and electricity to UK households rose by £19million to £572million. After adding income from sales of home services, profits in the UK retail business rose by £9million to £819million.

But these increases were offset by big losses in other parts of Centrica, particularly its power supply business in North America, where profits slumped by 68 per cent.

As a result, total operating profits at Centrica in 2017 fell by 1 per cent to £1.25billion.

Mr Conn, who is originally from Edinburgh, has been chief executive of Centrica since 2015.

He said yesterday: ‘The combination of political and regulatory intervention in the UK energy market, concerns over the loss of energy customers in the UK and the performance issue in North America have created material uncertainty around Centrica.

‘Although we delivered on our financial targets for the year, this has resulted in a very poor shareholder experience.

‘We regret this deeply and I am determined to restore shareholder value and confidence.’

Mr Conn’s remarks referred to Government moves to impose a price cap on standard variable tariffs (SVTs), which are up to £300 a year more expensive than the cheapest deals.

Some 52 per cent of British Gas customers are on the firm’s SVT and are in line for a big reduction if the cap comes into effect later this year – hitting revenue and profits.

Union leaders said Mr Conn should take responsibility for falling profits at Centrica, rather than the staff who will lose their jobs.

Unison’s Matt Lay said: ‘Staff will be devastated. British Gas can’t go on putting the squeeze on its staff and customers.

‘Staff shouldn’t be feeling the heat today. It should be Iain Conn.’