Ovo Energy today confirmed it will cut approximately a quarter of its employees in a company restructuring to reduce costs amid the ongoing and worsening energy crisis.
Staff numbers will reduce to 4,500 from 6,200 as part of a voluntary redundancy programme, said Sky News.
Ovo, the UK’s third-largest UK energy firm with 4.5mln customers, said it will accompany the cutback by raising its minimum pay to £12-an-hour, as well as re-distributing all customer-facing jobs to the UK.
Ovo also intends to open a new Glasgow academy, as it consolidates its locations to just London, Bristol, and Glasgow.
This news comes during a testing week for Ovo, following an email it sent to customers suggesting they cuddle pets or perform star jumps during the winter to keep warm, which provoked a fierce backlash and public apology from boss Stephen Fitzpatrick.
Ovo is the latest gas supplier to run into the problems stemming from rising wholesale prices.
Since August, 25 energy suppliers have collapsed with Bulb being the largest to enter administration with 1.7mln customers (read here).
Another supplier, Together Energy is expected to collapse within the coming week (read here).
Ovo considered bidding for Bulb before it was placed into the government’s special administration regime, and could still take on its customer base.