Politicians meet Ovo boss after Hunt Hill redundancies were announced

Last week we disclosed that aghast employees learned of the shutdown of the energy firm OVO via social media after the news was leaked to Sky News – a blunder which the company has apologised for.

This week, both Jamie Hepburn MSP and Stuart McDonald MP met with the firm’s chief executive to discuss the closure.

Currently, the extent of the impact of the closures remains to be seen as the company engages with unions and its staff.

However, the Cumbernauld representatives have expressed their disappointment with the decision and objected to it in the strongest terms. They will now be writing to the Scottish Government and North Lanarkshire Council to see what steps they can take to become involved.

Mr Hepburn said: “It was useful to have met with OVO Energy's CEO of Retail to be able to set out my own concerns and disappointment at their decision to close their Cumbernauld site. These concerns are replicated across the local area.”

“Stuart McDonald and I will now seek to engage with others to see what can be done to support those who are going to be negatively impacted by OVO’s decision.”

Mr McDonald added: “ “During this meeting, Jamie Hepburn and I asked for clarity around what support would be available to the staff that could be affected by this closure, it's important that people are given the support they need to commute or to work from home if OVO are going ahead with closing this office. OVO must provide further clarity on what these proposals mean for the staff.

An OVO spokesperson said: “We are opening a new academy in Glasgow, creating opportunities for those who want to be at the forefront of the UK’s green revolution. While we’re closing some of our offices, there is an opportunity for remote working.

"The pandemic has changed the way we work, and many of our offices are underused with people already working remotely. We’re committed to investing in Scotland; creating higher skilled, better paid jobs in Scotland.”