British Gas-owner Centrica to cut 5,000 jobs

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is to cut 5,000 jobs this year to “arrest the decline” of the company.

New chief executive Chris O’Shea said the energy giant would strip out three layers of management to slim down the business.

About half of the jobs to go will be among the company’s leadership, management and corporate staff.

This will include half of the senior leadership team of 40 who will leave by the end of August.

The company has seen customers leave to go to smaller suppliers and, in February, blamed a big loss in 2019 on the energy price cap and falling gas prices.

“Since becoming chief executive almost three months ago, I’ve focused on navigating the company through the Covid-19 crisis and identifying what needs to change in Centrica,” Mr O’Shea said.

“We’ve learnt through the crisis that we can be agile and responsive in the most difficult conditions and put our customers at the heart of our decision making.

“I truly regret that these difficult decisions will have to be made and understand the impact on the colleagues who will leave us. However, the changes we are proposing to make are designed to arrest our decline, allow us to focus on our customers and create a sustainable company.”