ENERGY distribution network Scottish Power looks set to close its Warrington office by the end of the year – although the energy giant says it aims to retain a presence in the town.
But employees facing redundancy say they have not been consulted properly, claiming they are currently working in a “toxic environment.”
The company is Spanish-owned and part of the Iberdrola group, a global energy company and world leader in wind energy. Only in July, the company reported a net profit of €2.07Bn thanks to the international business – due to the increase in investments, which amounted to €4.74 billion in the first half of the year (+5%) and €10.2 billion over the past twelve months.
But despite the huge profits the company is looking to reduce its Warrington workforce with some employees claiming they have been told the office will be closing at the end of the year.
A friend of some of those affected, who are too afraid to speak out due to fear of it impacting their redundancy pay said: “Put simply these people, some who have worked for SP for over 15 years received no advance notification of this closure.
“The first they knew of it was reading it online this morning. They have lived under a dark cloud of fear and anxiety over redundancy, a process that has been dragged out for months and months.
“Nobody can speak out, nobody has a voice, it’s a toxic culture with no known internal deployment. Communications with staff is sketchy at best and there certainly is no element of transparency with what is going on.
“People see big energy companies making all this profit, but that does not filter down to frontline retail energy staff.
“The people I know are constantly fearful they will be out next and are now asking…does that mean we are all going to be laid off, will there be a new office, where will that be?
“All questions that staff should know before it appears in the press and blindsides them.”
But a ScottishPower spokesperson said: “The energy retail market is experiencing unprecedented challenges and we’re reviewing our organisational structure to ensure it’s optimised to best deliver for customers.
“Consultation with colleagues is currently underway and our aim, where possible, is to avoid compulsory redundancies by redeploying employees in alternative roles in the wider ScottishPower group.
“Where this is not possible, enhanced redundancy terms are being offered.
“We appreciate this is a worrying time for affected employees and we continue to engage openly and transparently with them and their representatives.
“Warrington will continue to be a location for ScottishPower businesses.”
