Thousands of jobs to be axed at troubled npower

The cuts – which will come from within the business and internal group suppliers – would represent around a fifth of the company’s 11,500-strong UK workforce

Price cuts were moved off the bank burner as npower reduced its gas tariff (Getty)

Energy giant npower is poised to swing the axe on around 2,500 jobs as its German owner attempts to drag the business back into the black.

RWE, which has been beset by a string of problems, is expected to inform employees and confirm the cuts when it reports financial results on Tuesday.

Npower has big plants in Britain including Pembroke and Aberthaw in Wales and Staythorpe in Nottinghamshire. The cuts – which will come from within the business and internal group suppliers – would represent around a fifth of the company’s 11,500-strong UK workforce.

Npower, which has 4.9 million customer accounts, has been criticised over a string of perceived failings. It already has one of the worst customer service reputations in the industry and has been attacked, along with rivals including British Gas, for failing to slash bills.

The big six energy suppliers in Britain recently introduced a round of tariff cuts, but there have been calls for far greater reductions as oil prices have tumbled by 70 per cent since the peak in the price of crude in the summer of 2014.

The cuts are around a fifth of the 11,500-strong British workforce

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Npower last month announced a 5.2 per cent cut to its standard domestic gas tariff that would affect 1.2 million customers, equating to £32 off a household bill each year.

The company swung into the red after a string of billing problems triggered a £48m loss in the nine months to last October, from a £73m profit a year earlier, with its supply business losing 200,000 customers. Npower’s boss, Paul Massara, was ousted by RWE in August and replaced by insider Paul Coffey.

Mr Coffey said that 2015 – in which the company was also ordered to pay a £26m fine by regulator Ofgem for failing to treat customers fairly – had been “very tough for npower’s domestic business”.

The UK’s energy giants are braced for Thursday’s update from the Competition and Markets Authority. The watchdog will report on the latest stage of its investigation into the industry, aimed at making the energy market more transparent.

RWE revealed last month it will slump into the red after taking a €2.1bn (£1.6bn) hit on its British and German power stations. Npower declined to comment.