Ovo Energy to cut 222 Scottish jobs through voluntary redundancies

Local politicians have confirmed that 222 workers at Ovo Energy’s Perth office will take voluntary redundancy.Following a second meeting with the energy firm to discuss plans to leave the city, it was announced that its remaining 700 workers will continue to work from home.Ovo will also close two offices in Edinburgh and one in Cumbernauld, with 1,700 workers across the UK taking voluntary redundancy, as it goes from 10 sites to three – keeping offices in Glasgow, London and Bristol.The news was relayed to the politicians at a meeting with Ovo’s retail chief executive Adrian Letts.Pete Wishart, SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire, said it was a “devastating blow to the local labour market”, although he was reassured that there would be no compulsory redundancies.The Unite union warned in 2020 that Ovo was taking a risk when it took over the retail base of Perth-based energy giant SSE.Around 2,600 jobs were cut in May 2020 after Ovo closed offices in Glasgow and Selkirk.The recent job cuts come as Ovo announced it will open a training academy in Glasgow and is expected to increase minimum pay to £12 an hour.However, unions said they will oppose the job cuts, and criticised the UK Government for “doing nothing” to tackle the energy crisis.