Npower axes 2,400 jobs: chief executive Paul Coffey's statement in full

The energy firm lost 351,000 customers last year

Npower has confirmed that it will cut 2,400 jobs in the UK (Getty)

Npower has confirmed that it will cut 2,400 jobs in the UK across its power plants in the UK as part of a drastic turnaround plan to stem losses amounting to more than £100 million in 2015.

The energy firm lost 351,000 customers last year over inaccurate bills and long wait times for complaints that resulted in a fine of £26 million from the energy watchdog, Ofgem, in December.

The job losses have been considered by some experts to be the company returning to normal businesses after it hired extra staff to sort out complaints issues.

Paul Coffey, CEO of RWE npower, said that the company's job now is to simplify its system for customers.

His full statement reads as follows:

"npower results continue the trend seen earlier in 2015, but they are nonetheless extremely disappointing and we are starting a two year process to fix them. They show a business that tried to do too much, too soon while not focusing enough on the fundamentals in a constantly changing market. This led to over complicated processes and procedures resulting in unhappy customers, too many complaints and extra costs to put things right.

"These issues are not insurmountable. Over the past few months, we have looked at every part of npower, and over the next two years we’re fundamentally changing how the company operates. We shared the outcome of this review yesterday with employees. By 2018, around 2,400 fewer people will support npower overall through a mix of those who work directly and indirectly for npower.

"Energy should be simple for our customers and we have complicated it. Our plan is to create an npower that delivers better service, is more attractive to customers and better prepared for future opportunities – all at lower costs. This will be a huge task for all of us but we are determined to create the better business that our customers expect and shareholders demand. I regret that, as we simplify and streamline our activities, this will mean inevitable job losses but I am convinced that these steps are critical to protect the thousands of jobs that will remain."