Innogy to reduce number of call centres from seven to three

Innogy, the gas and electricity supplier, yesterday moved to cut costs by closing four call centres with the loss of 1,100 jobs.

The company, which has 5.5 million energy customers, announced that it will reduce its call centres from seven to three by closing customer service operations at Sheffield, Swindon, Bradford and Worcester.

However, it will create 900 jobs by expanding existing call centres at Peterlee and Stoke. The Oldbury centre is also being retained. The net job loss is 200.

Staff facing the axe are being offered the option of moving to one of the expanding centres. However, redundancy packages are available to those who cannot move. Brian Count, Innogy's chief executive designate, said: "The changes we are proposing are part of what we need to do to be a leader in an increasingly competitive marketplace."

The job cuts followed a series of acquisitions of other supply businesses, including MEB, Calortex, Independent Energy, and earlier this year, the £500m acquisition of Yorkshire Electricity. Innogy said yesterday's measures would contribute to the £35m of annual savings targeted from 2004 after the Yorkshire deal.