Energy firm E.On has announced it is closing a call centre and cutting 450 jobs across the UK. The company said it would close its call centre in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, with the loss of about 40 jobs. The majority of the other redundancies would be at two offices in Coventry, two offices near Nottingham and at offices in the Dudley area. It said most of the cuts were in the retail division, which had not made a profit for two years. It said it hoped most would be voluntary redundancies and would seek further cuts by not filling vacant posts over the coming months. The energy services, branded communications and business services departments will also be hit.

The union Unison said 50 jobs would be lost at its offices at Newland House and Sherwood Park, near Nottingham. The competitive market system is fatally flawed, benefiting neither customers nor employees. The firm, which employs about 18,000 people in the UK, said the majority of other cuts would be at its headquarters in Westwood Business Park, Coventry, and the adjoining Greenwood building. Dr Paul Golby, chief executive of E.ON UK, said: “These redundancies are part of an ongoing process that we started last year to ensure that we have a sustainable retail business in the UK, especially considering that we’ve now made a loss in retail for two years in a row.

“This was clearly a difficult decision to make and not one that we’ve taken lightly, but we firmly believe that it’s the right thing to do for the company as a whole. “I can also assure all of our customers that they remain our number one priority and I am certain that today’s move won’t affect the service we provide to them.” Dave Prentis, Unison’s General Secretary, said the cuts showed no sector of the economy was immune from the recession. He said: “While customers struggle with high water and energy bills, utility companies are making staff redundant. “The competitive market system is fatally flawed, benefiting neither customers nor employees.”

He said the government and the regulator Ofgem should review the operation of the energy market. Donna Merriman, the union’s officer for staff at E.ON said: “Unison is working closely with E.ON to make sure all those facing redundancy are given the support they need to find another job. “We will be working hard to keep the human costs of these redundancies to a minimum.”

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