Scotland's two main cities affected by British Gas planned cuts, says union

Published on Thursday 14 January 2010 15:30

GMB today said that it has seen evidence that British Gas is planning to axe 5,000 employees across the UK.

The union said it has seen internal company correspondence outlining a reduction of 25 per cent in non-customer facing staff alongside cuts in other parts of the business.

GMB say the job losses will affect British Gas sites in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leicester, Leeds, Cardiff, Oldbury in the West Midlands and Southampton.

National officer Gary Smith said: "GMB has good reason to believe that British Gas is planning to axe up to 5,000 jobs in its operations across the UK. Union members believe the cuts being planned are massive."

The union said recently-announced restructuring at British Gas was expected to lead to job cuts, but not on such a scale.

Officials said they had been trying to get a "straight response" from the company about its future plans.

Mr Smith added: "The staff are working flat out in what looks like the busiest period the company has ever had. Contact centres have been open until 4am in the morning. Engineers and the staff have been performing heroics to try and keep customers warm. Our fear is that once the busy period is over the axe will fall."